


The Paradox Child

by steampunkmagic



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Post Episode: s05e09 Cold Blood, Pregnancy, The Pandorica, season 5 rewrite, time cracks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 15:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/928127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steampunkmagic/pseuds/steampunkmagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Rory is erased from history, the Doctor realizes Amy is pregnant with the child of a man she cannot even remember. This story follows the Doctor and Amy's adventures with friends new and old, while the Doctor tries to protect Amy and the baby from the mysterious Allegiance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Things Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> This was the first fanfiction I ever wrote oh so many months ago  
> I would of course love to hear what people think of it :D

**Things Left Behind**

                He stood at the consol of the TARDIS trying not to think, which is extremely hard to do when you are a Time Lord.  Thinking came naturally, a whole swirling vortex of ideas and options that made up the universe from beginning to end.   The Doctor was currently trying not to think of Rory Williams.  The man that never was. 

                Two weeks had passed since the crack took Rory's body.  Took it and erased his existence.   Amy, who had screamed and fought hysterically when the Doctor dragged her away from him, now skipped around oblivious.  She had no idea that man she loved was gone.  She had no idea she had ever even loved him.   And it killed the Doctor to watch.   So he did everything he could to make Amy happy, took her to every amazing place he could think of.   Anything to make her smile even if she didn’t know why she should be sad.   Deep down the Doctor knew he did it for his own benefit.  Seeing Amy happy helped to push away his guilt.   He had lead Rory to the center of the Earth and he should have been the one to get him back out.  But he didn’t and it was his fault.

                The Doctor took a red velvet box out of his pocket and flipped it open.   Amy's engagement ring sparkled in the light.  He wasn't sure how it was still here, when Rory vanished it should have too.  The Doctor suspected the TARDIS had something to do with it, wibbly- wobbly, timey-wimey indeed.   He couldn’t give the ring to Amy because she wouldn’t even remember it, but he couldn’t bring himself to put it in storage.  So the Doctor just kept it in his jacket pocket.  A constant reminder of the pain he had caused mad, beautiful, brilliant Amy Pond.

                Shoving the box back into his pocket, the Doctor decided to go find Amy.   He thought she might like a trip to the Musée d'Orsay to see the work of Van Gogh. 

                   "Amy!" he called down the corridor leading to her room.  "You like art right? I -"  

                He stopped dead when he saw her sitting on the floor outside the bathroom.  She was pale and shaky, with her fiery hair stuck to her forehead.   She looked up at him and smiled weakly.   For a moment she looked exactly like the seven year old girl he'd once known.  

                  "Are you all right? Amy what's wrong?"  Dropping to his knees the Doctor pushed the hair out her face scanning for injuries.   907 years had taught him that a lot could go wrong with a human body and countless horrible things could make a person pale and shaky. 

                Amy's laugh cut off his rising panic.  Her hand slipped around his wrist and she leaned into his touch.  "I'm fine, Doctor." she said in her musical Scottish accent.   "Though, I do wish you would have told me you can get time-travel sickness or would that be space sickness?  Either way it's starting to get old.  So _Doctor_ do you have some sort of pill for that?"

                "The TARDIS prevents people from getting motion sickness.  It- wait hang on.  'starting to get old' how many times has this happened?" he demanded.

                "Once today.  Twice yesterday."  Amy's eyes widened at the Doctor's intense expression.   Even more so when he promptly lifted her to her feet as if she weighed nothing and began dragging her toward the control room. 

                He said nothing as he pulled Amy along behind him.  The Doctor didn’t trust himself to speak, he was furious.  Furious and scared, because something wrong with Amy. _His_ Amy.  And after everything that happened with Rory, the Doctor was not going to lose her too.  If anyone or anything hurt Amy they would rue the day they'd ever heard of The Oncoming Storm.  

                Amy was uncharacteristically silent as the Doctor made her sit in a chair next to the consol.  He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and passed it over her body sending readings to the TARDIS mainframe to be analyzed.   He watched the small view screen impatiently for the results.   There was a small blip then elegant Circular Gallifreyan filled the screen. 

                "What is it?" Amy cried, behind him.  "Do I have some sort of demented space flu or something?"

                The Doctor didn’t answer; he was still staring at the screen.  Disbelieving he read the results twice, three times.  No. No. The universe simply couldn’t be that cruel.  It couldn’t.  But no one knew just how untrue that was like the Doctor did.  The universe was cruel.  Yet no more so than at this moment, because the ring was not the only paradox Rory Williams left behind.

                "You're pregnant." The Doctor said.

 

 


	2. How to Explain the Impossible

**How to Explain the Impossible**

                "I'm what?"  She was staring at him as though waiting for the punch line.  "I'm what, Doctor?"    "Pregnant."  he repeated weakly.

        The Doctor felt the tears he'd been holding back for weeks building.  He had fought the worst monsters in the universe, saved entire planets, and waged war for all of creation.  But this.  Nothing prepared him for this. 

                "I-I can't be.  It's impossible!" Amy said touching her stomach.   "Your stupid screwdriver is wrong!"        

                "Its not." he replied simply.   He was openly crying now, staring at the scared young woman.   How was he supposed to make this ok?  How could he even explain this to her?  Cautious, the Doctor took a step forward as if approaching a spooked animal.   Amy stood frozen, eyes wide and confused.   Wrapping his arms around her, he pressed his lips to her forehead.

                "It's going to be ok." he said softly.

                Pushing her hands against his tweed jacket, Amy stepped back.  The Doctor winced at the tears running down her cheeks.  "What's happening to me?" she asked.

                "Umm."

                "Doctor, what is happening?" she repeated.  "I cannot be pregnant.  I mean, the only man I've been around is you and we haven't, you know…" Amy trailed off suggestively, turning pink. 

                He stared around the control room avoiding her gaze.  The Doctor didn't know what to tell her.   He startled as Amy slipped her arms around him, pressing her face into his shirt.

                "Doctor, please." she whispered.

                He sighed against her fiery hair.  The truth, he would tell her the truth.  Straitening up, the Doctor steered her back to the console chairs.   She watched him expectantly as he sat down beside her.   The TARDIS hummed her engines encouragingly.

                "Do you remember the last time we saw one of the cracks?" he asked.

                Amy blinked, surprised.  "When we were escaping theSilurians."

                The Doctor nodded.  "And do you remember what happened then?"  He watched as Amy's face went momentarily blank.  Her mind trying to focus on its edited memories.

                "Alaya's sister shot at you, then we left in the TARDIS." she said.  "What does any of this have to do with impossible pregnancies?"

                "A lot actually."  The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box.   He handed it to Amy.  Her eyes widened filled with some emotion he couldn't name.   Love? _Recognition_?  He held his breath as Amy flipped open the velvet lid.  One second, two seconds passed, then she blinked.  The moment was over and the emotion was gone.   She didn't recognize it.  

                Amy looked from the ring, to the Doctor, and back.  "I don't understand.  Are-are you purposing to me?" she asked confused.   Her slightly hopeful tone pierced the Doctor's hearts.

                "No." he said, a bit firmer than he meant to.

                  He softened his tone at her hurt expression, "You're already engaged Pond.   His name was Rory and you love him.  He was there with us at the center of the Earth.  He saved my life and took the shot Restac meant for me.   But then the light came before we could move him and he was taken."  The Doctor's voice broke.

                Amy shook her head violently, sobbing.  "No, no, no, no."

                "Rory was wiped from history, from your memories.  Just like the Cleric soldiers."

                "But I remember them!" she cried, "I'm a time traveler.  You said I could remember because I'm a time traveler!"

                "They weren't part of your time line.  Rory, your fiancée, was."   The Doctor sighed, drying the tears from her cheek with his sleeve.

                "But how?" she asked, glancing from engagement ring to her abdomen.   Amy looked up at the Doctor with the expression he both loved and feared:  faith.   It was the expression she'd turned on him ever since she was a little girl.  Amy believed in him, that he could do anything and solve any problem.  Even this one.

                "I don't know Pond." he said.

                She blanched at the Doctor's words.  "What am I going to do?" she whispered.   Hating seeing her look so broken, the Doctor took Amy's hands in his. 

                " _We're_ going to figure it out."  Amy looked up at him shocked.  He laughed softly and pulled her into a hug. "What did you think I was going to suddenly kick you out of the TARDIS?"   The engines thrummed, as if scoffing at the very idea.

                "But I'm going to have a baby?"

                "Yeah and I'm going to be right here with you.  I would make a pretty crappy best friend otherwise."  the Doctor smiled, "Plus with the TARDIS we have access to the best hospitals in the universe, literally."

                "Thank you." Amy said, hugging him so tight he thought his ribs might fracture.

                "Now, Pond," the Doctor said.  He turned on his most brilliant smile and straightened his bowtie.  "I think I was saying something about an art show."


	3. Warnings and Light

Warnings and Light

The trip to the art museum didn't exactly go as planned. But then, when did anything ever go as planned? The Doctor was pacing back and forth exasperated in Vincent Van Gogh's front garden. He and Amy had gone to the exhibit, when he noticed something odd in one of the paintings. Now they were neck deep in red-haired madmen and invisible monsters. Typical.  
Speaking of madmen, the Doctor could hear Vincent's animated voice inside the house. He was explaining (or more accurately: raving about) the color red to Amy.  
"It's passion, love, the beating heart of fire and rage…" Vincent may be one of the strangest men the Doctor had ever encountered, which was saying something. He perceived the world in an entirely different way than other humans. Genius; like how Shakespeare had been unfazed by the Doctor's psychic paper all those years ago. Though the Doctor suspected it was more than simple brain power in Vincent's case. He had an awareness, a sight that others didn’t, and the Doctor wasn't quite sure what to make of it.  
"Are you waiting to get eaten?" said a voice, interrupting his thoughts. He spun around to find Amy standing in the doorway.  
"No, just waiting. Where's Vincent?" he asked.  
"He fell asleep right before he got to the color yellow." She smiled fondly. "He was explaining the impossibility of capturing my hair color in paint."  
That was another thing about Vincent Van Gogh which caught the Doctor by surprise, his infatuation with Amy. In less than a day the man seemed to have fallen half in love with her. Not that the Doctor could fault him, the girl seemed to have her own gravitational force. Wherever they went men's eyes, of every species, followed Amy.  
"So are we going monster hunting tomorrow?" Amy asked.  
"Not we. Just me." he said.  
"What? You're leaving me behind?"  
"Pond," the Doctor said exasperated, "I'm not willing to put you in front of a hungry Krafayis, especially in your current condition." He gestured awkwardly towards her stomach.  
"Oh." She colored slightly, "But I can't just sit here and wait for you to come back. I would go crazy."  
He sighed in defeat. It was no use arguing with Amy, he would never win anyway. "You can come with us to the church, but only, only, if you promise to stay out of the way. Remember you can't see the creature either."  
"Okay!" she cried, "I promise."  
***  
It seemed Amy's version of 'promise' actually meant 'ignore everything he said then follow him into a fight with nothing to defend herself'. It was only thanks to Vincent that they had gotten out of the church alive, though sadly the Krafayis had been killed.  
"I was helping!" Amy was saying defensively. They were saying goodbye to Vincent Van Gogh outside the TARDIS.  
Vincent started chuckling. "Doctor, I would give up now ever trying to get Amy to do anything she doesn’t want to."  
"Thank you!" Amy cried.  
"Yet he is right." Vincent continued, "There are many beautiful and magnificent things in this world. You two have certainly proven this to me. But you, Amy, who loves sunflowers and fears nothing, out shine them all. So you must stay safe for your sake and that of the child you carry."  
Amy gasped in surprise. The Doctor couldn't believe it. There was no way he could know about the baby; she was weeks away from showing. He was struck again by the man's perception. First the ability to see invisible aliens and now this. If the Doctor didn't know better he would assume Vincent wasn't human.  
"How did you know?" Amy asked.  
"You glow with it!" he cried in enthusiastic tones, "Your joy of motherhood shines through the shadows of the one you've lost. Love conquers loss as the poets say. How could I not see that? I would have to be blind to miss the love you radiate for your child."  
Looking at Amy, crying tears of joy at Vincent's words, the Doctor could almost see it too. Shaking his head in amazement, the Doctor pulled Vincent into a hug goodbye. "I don't think I will ever meet another man like you." he said.  
"Nor I you, my friend!" Vincent cried, hugging him back. "Take care of Amy, Doctor. The Allegiance is forming." He whispered the last words so only the Doctor could hear.  
"What?" the Doctor exclaimed, stepping back. But Vincent had already turned to Amy and didn’t respond.  
"I'm going to miss you so much!" Amy said wrapping her arms around him.  
"Just remember if you ever get bored of him, my offer of marriage still stands."  
"I'll remember." she laughed.  
Vincent waved and turned back toward his home. The Doctor had no opportunity to ask what he meant by the Allegiance. Something told him it was more than Vincent's usual ravings. It raised the hairs on the back of his neck, but he plastered on his foolish grin. He didn’t want Amy to notice anything was bothering him. She grabbed his arm, dragging him into the TARDIS, wanting to go back to the Musée d'Orsay.  
When Amy found out that Vincent still committed suicide in less than a year's time, she was heartbroken. She felt like they had failed him and the Doctor had to sit with her all night while she cried.


	4. Amy's TARDIS

As the weeks passed Amy's morning sickness began to subside and she'd taken to singing while walking around the TARDIS.  Not that he would ever admit it, but Amy's singing was not something one wanted to hear first thing in the morning.   The TARDIS seemed to enjoy it though.   The Doctor nearly dropped his screwdriver one afternoon, when he realized the engines were humming along with Amy's tune.   In fact for the first time in 700 years the TARDIS was ignoring him; instead she focused all her attentions on Amy.   Books and videos about pregnancy and neonatal care appeared in the library.  Special vitamins materialized in her bathroom cabinets and now an entire yoga studio next to the swimming pool.    

                The Doctor had been banned from the yoga studio after Amy threw a foam block at him.   He just couldn't stop laughing.   Watching her try to touch her toes over her baby bump was more than he could take.   Now he had to find something else to do for an hour every day.   Researching and updating his knowledge on everything related to childcare ended up filling most of his time. 

                 It had been so long since he'd been a father.  Centuries.  The Doctor never imagined he would have children in his life again.   It didn't matter if Amy's baby wasn't his.   He would make sure no child in the universe was more cared for.  He owed Rory that much.   Plus, the Doctor imagined the TARDIS would electrocute him if he did anything less.

                Along with exercise, health food became the new word of law.  The TARDIS' kitchen simply refused to produce anything else, even for him!  It wasn't like he was the one carrying a child.  Now the Doctor couldn't find fishsticks and custard even if he begged, which he had on one memorable occasion.  His ship just continued to ignore him.  Amy said it was only fair since she had to give up junk food. 

                Not that Amy was really complaining.   The Doctor knew she would be willing to do anything to protect her baby, even if it meant giving up pastries.    Except chocolate, which the Doctor now considered a self defense weapon.   Due to fluctuating hormones Amy would spontaneously burst into tears at random moments in the day.  The Doctor and the TARDIS quickly realized that chocolate was the only way to placate her.   Therefore he kept some in his pocket at all times, like a soldier's spare ammunition.

                The rest of the time Amy was blissfully happy.   She smiled constantly and always kept one hand on her rounded belly.   She really did glow.  The Doctor noticed that other people smiled more when around her, like her mood was infectious.   On every planet they visited someone congratulated them assuming the Doctor was Amy's husband.  At first the Doctor had been unsure how to respond, but when Amy failed to correct them he just went with it.  They decided it was easier to smile and nod, than explain the truth.    Not that anyone would have believed them.

                Rory was rarely mentioned; he was a subject tiptoed around.  Though occasionally, usually after one of her crying bouts, Amy would ask the Doctor to tell her stories about Rory.   He told her everything he could remember and everything she had ever told him.  Sometimes Amy would laugh or shake her head in disbelieve, but mostly she just sat there.   Little lines appeared on her face as she concentrated, willing herself to remember the man she loved.  Some days the Doctor almost believed she could do it, but it never worked. 

                The day started out the same as any other.   The Doctor was bemoaning his fate, staring at a plate of nothing but cottage cheese and celery sticks.  He was going to starve to death before the baby was ever born.         

                "So how do I look?"

                The Doctor nearly choked on his celery when he looked up to find Amy in a calico dress.    Pink and white lace completed with a hoop skirt; she looked like she just walked off the set of _Gone with the Wind_. 

                "Umm… why are you dressed like a Southern Belle?" he asked.

                "That’s what they're called!  I kept trying to remember." Amy grinned.

                "You still haven't answered the question.  Why?" The Doctor wondered if maybe she'd gone insane.

                "Oh, I was in the wardrobe trying to find a new shirt when I got distracted."

                "Clearly."

                "Hey!  I always loved playing dress up as a kid, and now I have access to every costume imaginable.   Why wouldn't I take advantage of that?  And when I saw this I simply had to try it on.  It's just so well _much_. "said Amy.

                The Doctor had to agree, between the crinoline, hoop skirt, and petticoat, Amy took up half the kitchen.   "I never have understood why women dressed like that, all that fabric makes running nearly impossible."

                Amy rolled her eyes, "Running?  Of course that’s the first thing you'd think of.  But be that as it may, I want to go there.  To where women wore these dresses."

                Jumping at the prospect of new escapades the Doctor abandoned his breakfast and ran toward the control room.   Skidding on the glass platform he reached the keyboard to enter coordinates.  

                "We'll have to land in the antebellum period, because I don't want any cannon dents in the TARDIS…again." the Doctor told Amy.  "America here we come!"

                They both grabbed the control panel as the ship dropped into the time vortex.   Less than a minute later the engines whined as the Police Box landed in the American South.  In her excitement, Amy was the first out the door.    Rushing after her the Doctor almost collided with Amy who was frozen outside the entrance.

                The first thing to hit him was the smell.  It was a scent he was unfortunately familiar with: decomposition.    Lined out in the field before them were thousands of bodies and from their condition they had been their awhile.   Amy turned away and was violently sick.

                "Antietam.  Dear gods, this is Antietam." the Doctor whispered.  "So much for avoiding the Civil War."


	5. Trapped at Antietam

                 "Where?" Amy asked, shakily.

                "The site of the single bloodiest day in American history.  Nearly 23,000 men died in a battle which had no winner.  Humans, sometimes I simply cannot fathom the things you do."  He shook his head sadly. 

                Without responding Amy ran back inside.   Sighing, the Doctor followed her.  He doubted all the chocolate in the universe was going to make up for this particular blunder.   Amy had already vanished to her room.   Perhaps he'd take her somewhere sunny with sand, like Space Florida.  They even had automated sand.   The Doctor keyed in the coordinates and pulled a lever.

                 Nothing happened. 

                "What?  Oh come on don't do this to me now!" he yelled.    He ran around the console flipping switches and pushing buttons.  The ship remained firmly parked.   Fearing his ship had been hijacked the Doctor checked the view screen, but that wasn't the case.  The TARDIS had hijacked herself; she was simply refusing to move.

                "Of course I would get the one ship in the universe that decides to go on strike!" the Doctor cried kicking the console.  "I swear I'm going to leave you and buy a _proper_ spaceship!"

                This did nothing but cause the lever he was holding to 'somehow' spark with static electricity singeing his fingers.    Muttering to himself, the Doctor paced back and forth trying to figure out how to override the system.  

                "Doctor?"  Amy had changed back into normal clothes, but her eyes were still red.   In a small voice, she asked, "Why are we still here?"

                "Because we can't leave.   The TARDIS has locked herself in park."

                Amy was about to reply when someone knocked on the front door.    They both turned to stare at the entrance.   The Doctor looked up at the display showing a Union solider standing outside. 

                "That hasn't happened in a while." he said. 

                "Are you going to open the door?  Or should we just ignore him?"

                The Doctor for once didn't want to get involved.  This wasn't the place for Amy.   Though he imagined they were here for a reason.  The TARDIS never took him anywhere without a reason, even if he didn’t know what it was until he was neck deep in a B grade disaster movie.    Rubbing his hands together, the Doctor figured he may as well find out.

                "May as well answer or we might end up with the whole army out front." he grinned at Amy.

                The Doctor marched across the room and stuck his head out the door.   He was careful to block the view inside with his body.   Outside stood a young man who looked about fifteen.   He was dressed in a dirty, patched up uniform.  It had obviously originally been Union Blue, but grime and exposure had faded the fabric.  The Doctor found it ironic that the boy was just as gray as a Confederate.   They're all the same, just children, he thought ruefully.

                "Can I help you?" the Doctor asked.

                "You're English!" the boy exclaimed.

                "Well I'm speaking English." he said, stepping around the implied question.   "Did you need something?"

                "Umm… Well the General asked my Capt'n, who asked me, to find out why there was a blue box next to the field.  'Cuz everyone's pretty sure it wasn't here before, sir.  So… Who are you and where did this box come from?"  said the boy.

                "Tell your captain that we're here by accident and we'll be leaving as soon as possible."  Amy broke in, sticking her head out from behind the Doctor.

                The boy's eyes widened upon seeing Amy.  He turned red looking from Amy to the Doctor and the rather small looking Police Box.  The Doctor suppressed the urge to rolls his eyes. 

                "Ma'am." he said and attempted to straighten his ruined uniform before the lady.  "This is no place for a woman.  The gentler sex should not be exposed to such sights." 

                Amy stepped all the way out of the TARDIS.  "Disregarding how misogynistic that statement was, I couldn’t agree more."   She shuttered obviously avoiding looking in the direction of the bodies.  She wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach.  

                The expression on the young man's face was almost comical.   The Doctor couldn't tell if he was more surprised by Amy's outfit, vocabulary, or the fact that she was pregnant.   He also appeared to be fascinated by Amy's red hair; his eyes kept veering back to it.   There must not be many gingers in the army.   Eventually, the boy remembered that he was supposed to be interrogating them. 

                "Sir, I will ask you again.  Who are you and what are you doing here?" he said with mustered confidence.

                The Time Lord paused a moment before responding.  He was trying to decide how he wanted to play this.  The Doctor had worked with enough army personal in the last 900 years to know what they responded best to: orders and authority.   He drew himself up to full height and straightened his bow tie. 

                "I am the Doctor.  What is your name soldier?" he demanded.   

                "Bobby Whitman, sir."

                "Mr. Whitman I've have been sent here to speak to your commanding officer.   Please escort myself and Miss Pond here, to his tent."

                "Yes, sir!  General McClellan is currently in a meetin' with President Lincoln though, sir." Bobby said.

                "Abraham Lincoln?" cried Amy.

                "Yes Ma'am.  He's visiting from Washington."  

                That perked the Doctor's interest; he'd never actually met Lincoln before.   Along with his other famous character attributes the man had an excellent taste in hats.   He glanced at Amy, who nodded enthusiastically. 

                "Very well, lead the way Mr. Whitman." the Doctor said.

                They followed Bobby in a wide arc around the line of corpuses to reach the Union camp.   The camp was really more of a giant triage unit than anything else.   Dirty men in dirty bandages shuffled between the tents with expressions ranging from shock to complete vacancy.   Most species couldn't cope with this kind of devastation mentally.   It was just as well, if you could cope you would be a Dalek.

                Men and nurses stared as they went by heading toward the center of the camp.  Amy clung to the Doctor's arm and he could feel her shaking.  It was disconcerting, normally nothing fazed her.    He wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a sideways hug.

                "Are you alright?" the Doctor whispered.

                "Yeah, it's just they're all kids.  I keep thinking about their mothers and the mothers of all those dead men."

                "Amelia Pond you never fail to amaze me.  You are so human."

                "Probably because I am human." Amy smiled sadly.

                The Doctor glanced around the tent city, "More so than some."

                Bobby stopped and pointed to a tent a few yards ahead of them.  It wasn't any nicer than the others.  Only the fact that it was surrounded by armed guards gave any indication of its importance. 

                "That's General McClellan's tent up there.  You may have to wait, before anyone will let you through to speak to him." Bobby said.  "I'll let Jones know who you are and who sent you.  Wait- who did you say sent you, sir?"

                Before the Doctor could think of a reply, the flap to the tent opened and out stepped a tall, thin man.   President Abraham Lincoln stood before them in his iconic suit and stovepipe top hat.   He was talking to General George McClellan, who followed him outside.   Lincoln paused mid-sentence when he caught sight of Amy and the Doctor.   He strode toward them, his grim face breaking into a genuine smile.

                "I've been waiting for you to arrive." he said.


	6. The President's Dream

                The Doctor and Amy exchanged matching looks of shock.  Lincoln stepped forward to shake the Doctor's hand, grinning at his bemused expression.  

                "Hello, Mr. President." the Doctor sputtered, "I'm the Doctor and this is Amelia Pond."

                Amy stuck out her hand to shake Lincoln's, causing a round of gasps in the men watching.  Not only was she dressed like a man, but she acted like one too.   If the President was surprised by her actions however he didn’t show it.

                "It is lovely to meet you, my dear."  he said taking Amy's hand.

                "You as well!" she replied grinning madly.

                Lincoln glanced around at the troop of staring men, "Perhaps we should talk inside."

                They followed Lincoln and a thoroughly confused General McClellan back into the tent.   Inside was nothing more than a table covered in maps and a few rickety chairs.  All lit with a beaten metal lantern.    The General pulled out a chair for Amy, then turned to the Doctor.

                "Doctor Pond, I would like to know what you are doing here." he said, "I was not informed of your coming.   Nor do I understand why you chose to bring your wife, who is obviously with child, with you."

                "I believe Mr. Lincoln said he was expecting us, isn't that reason enough for you." the Doctor said in annoyance.   "And she isn't my wife and she has a name, its Amy."

                "Urgh! Why is it men feel the need to greet each other with thinly veiled threats?" cried Amy exasperated.   Her Scottish attitude had returned.

                 Lincoln cut in before McClellan could respond.  "Sir, they are here because I need to speak with them.  Privately, General." he added sternly.

                "Yes, Mr. President, sir." he said straightening his spine and nodding in deference to Lincoln. McClellan gave Amy a stiff sort of bow then glared at the Doctor before exiting.

                "Please sit Doctor, I believe we have much to discuss." Lincoln said.

                "Yeah I think we do," the Doctor said taking the chair next to Amy, "First off, how did you know we were coming?"

                "I saw it." he said simply.   Sighing Lincoln swept off his top hat and placed it on the table before him.   The Doctor thought he looked weary.  A man worn down by the stress of trying to hold a nation together which was determined to tear itself apart.  

                "What do you mean?" Amy questioned.  "How did you see us coming?  We didn't even know we were going to be here."

                A shadow passed over Lincoln's face and his expression grew serious.  "The night before last I had a dream.   It is the dream I always have before something significant occurs.  I had it before this accursed war and before this very battle.   Yet this time was different.  The dream began the same; I was on a ship sailing swiftly across the sea.   Normally there is silence while the ship disappears into the fog, but this time I heard a noise.  A great roaring filled my ears and I turned to see what could make such a sound.  Two people stood on the deck behind me and beyond them was a brilliant light."

                Lincoln paused turning his gaze on Amy.  "The first figure was a woman with hair like fire.  She was dressed in mourning, cradling a small child.   A man stood beside her like a sentinel, protecting her and her child.  He was both young and older than time itself.   They spoke to me, voices rising above the thunderous sound.    'Time is being rewritten' the man warned me, while the woman whispered 'the Allegiance is forming'. "

                As the President finished his tale the Doctor wasn't quite sure what to think.  Of course he had heard of Lincoln's gift before.   In just a few short years the man sitting across from him would foretell his own assassination. His ability was one of the great mysteries of human history.  

                "And you believe the dream was referring to us?" the Doctor asked. 

                "Without a doubt."  Lincoln said gravely, "Why else would you be here Doctor?"

                Amy grabbed the Doctor's arm, "That must be why the TARDIS refuses to leave!  She wanted us to come here!"

                "We still don’t know why though!" he said gesturing wildly.

                "I'm sure that will become clear soon enough."  Lincoln stated, "A great change is coming, something which will shift the very world we live in."

                "The Allegiance is forming."  Amy muttered, "Time rewriting, you say that all the time Doctor, but what does the Allegiance forming mean?"

                "I don't know Pond."  The Doctor never told her Vincent's last words to him.  He still didn’t understand them.  The Allegiance of what?  For months he'd felt there was something going on, something big, something he couldn’t see.   The cracks, the Angels, the whispers of the fabled Pandorica.  The words of Prisoner Zero came floating back to him.

                " _The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn’t know."_

But what? What didn’t he know and why?

                "You say time can be rewritten?" Lincoln asked.

                "Yes constantly.  The time stream is in a constant state of flux and any action could change the course of future events.  This very conversation is an example." said the Doctor.  

                The President's brow furrowed.  He glanced between the Doctor and Amy, coming to some conclusion in his mind.    "You are not from here." he stated.

                "No we're not." Amy smiled.

                "I would ask where you _are_ from, yet I believe there are certain things I am not meant to know."  

                The Doctor laughed, "You probably wouldn't believe us anyway.  No one ever does!" 

                 

               

 

 

 


	7. Erased

                The Doctor watched Bobby follow Amy back and forth across the camp.  The poor kid was hopeless and Amy wasn't helping.  Every few minutes she would turn and smile at him or place her hand on his arm.  Bobby blushed so often the Doctor worried he would permanently turn red.   Amy, it seemed, was oblivious to the effect she was having.   Bobby wasn't the only one either; the Doctor had to stifle a laugh as Amy stood up causing twenty men to jump to attention.  

                Amy wandered over to him.  "I think if I time it right I can get all of them to leap at once."

                "Wait!  You keep making them stand up on purpose?" the Doctor exclaimed.  Maybe she wasn't so unaware after all.

                "Not exactly on purpose, but it is kinda nice.  Makes me feel all dignified.  I mean _you_ never stand up when I enter the room," she punched his shoulder lightly, "Some knight in shining armor you are!"

                "Hey!  I'm chivalrous, chivalrous is my middle name! That is, if I had a middle name or a last one for that matter.  I-"

                Amy pressed a finger to his lips to get him to stop rambling.  "Ok fine.  I take back my comment."

                "Here comes your shadow." the Doctor said, glancing over her shoulder.

                "Bobby?" She didn’t turn around.

                "Yep."

                "He's a sweet kid.  Though I can't get him to stop calling me Ma'am."

                "That's standard for this time period."

                The subject of their discussion arrived with a tin of water for Amy.  He handed it to her, straightening his spine obviously trying to look taller than the Doctor.  It didn't work.

                "My mother once told me it was important for women to drink lots of water when with child." Bobby said.

                "Sounds like a smart woman." Amy complimented.  

                "Thank you, Ma'am." Bobby turned to the Doctor, "President Lincoln asked to speak with you sir."

                The Doctor rubbed his hands together in excitement.  "Finally!  I was afraid to sit in on the strategies meeting.  The temporal flux around this war is so tenuous, I didn't want to say the wrong thing and end up toppling the country!"

                Bobby looked at him like he was speaking Greek.  "You say the strangest things, Sir."

                "Ah, if I had a credit!"

                He started in the direction of McClellan's tent but stopped when he saw Lincoln heading towards him.  The Doctor figured Lincoln didn't want their conversation to be overheard by the officers.   Not that he blamed the man.    He turned back to Amy and Bobby who were still in conversation.   What he heard next almost gave him a double heart attack.

                "Amy," Bobby hesitated nervous, "Where is your husband, if I may ask?  I just wondered … you don't have to answer!  I'm sorry for asking."  The boy flushed scarlet clearly afraid he had insulted her.  

                Frozen, the Doctor waited to see how she would respond.   All this time and no one had ever asked Amy where the father of her child was.  Either they assumed it was the Doctor or just avoided the subject.   

                Amy's smile faded and her eyes darkened.  It was as if the sun went out.   Staring into the distance, she took a breath before answering. 

                "I lost him." she said simply.

                Bobby and the Doctor both reached for her as a tear ran down her cheek.   The Doctor pulled Amy into a hug.  She gave a weak little laugh drawing away from him.

                "Don't worry I'm not going to pieces or anything."  Amy said.

                The Doctor patted his jacket pockets, "I'm sure I have a chocolate bar in here somewhere if you need it!"

                "I'll save it for later."

                Bobby finally spoke up, his voice hardly above a whisper.  "The war?"

                "No.  He…Rory died somewhere else, very far from here."

                "He died a hero." the Doctor broke in.  "He saved my life.  And for that I am forever in his debt."

                "That explains a few things." said Lincoln, making them all jump.

                  For a man as tall as Lincoln he certainly didn't make much noise, the Doctor thought.   He caught Lincoln's gaze and could tell the man had just come to several conclusions.   Bobby snapped to attention in a salute.   The Doctor nodded and Amy smiled in greeting.

                "At ease, Soldier."  said the Commander-in-Chief.

                "Thank you, Sir." Bobby withdrew from the group.  Heading back to attend to his other duties.

                The Doctor had barely opened his mouth when he heard the boy's scream.  He ran towards the sound shouting Bobby's name.  Amy and Lincoln were right behind him.   Rushing around the last row of tents the Doctor saw a brilliant light ahead.   A Time Crack ripped open the ground before the Antietam battle field.   Bobby stood frozen before it, tendrils of light reaching toward him.

                "Bobby!" Amy screamed running forward.

                "Amy! No!"  Desperately the Doctor grabbed her around the waist.  He knew if he lost Amy or the baby he wouldn't survive it.  They were his family now.

                "Bobby get back! Don't let the light touch you!" he yelled knowing it was already too late.            Charming, young Bobby Whitman vanished from reality leaving only the Doctor and Amy to remember him.

                "It's the light from my dream.  Doctor what is it?" Lincoln cried.

                "A crack in time and space.  It’s a crack in the skin of the universe!"  

                The Doctor was still crushing Amy's body to his, terrified that if he let go she would vanish too.  Therefore he could do nothing when Lincoln started to walk towards the crack. 

                "Stop!  If the light touches you, you will be erased from history!"  he bellowed.

                Lincoln paused.  "I feel it." he whispered as if in a trance.  "It's calling me."

                "Please, don't!" Amy sobbed.

                "You have to come back!" the Doctor yelled.  "This country, this whole planet needs you!  If you disappear you will take America with you.   This war will end in total destruction, both sides will lose everything.   An entire race of people will continue to suffer in slavery for centuries unless you stop it!  Step away from the light NOW!"

                Slowly Lincoln turned, fighting the pull of the Time Crack.   The Doctor saw the warring desperation and hope in his eyes.  "I don't fail them all?"

                "No you don't, but if you let that light touch you won't be here to save anyone."

                A fierce grin stole over Lincoln's face effectively breaking the hold on him.  He quickly moved back from the tendrils of light which had nearly reached him.   The Doctor let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.  But they weren't out of the woods yet, he still needed to close the crack.

                Amy was apparently thinking the same thing.  "How do we get rid of it?"

                Finally letting go of Amy he pulled out the sonic screwdriver.   The Doctor gave her an encouraging smile and kissed her forehead.  "Same way I did when you were seven, Pond.   Now stay here with Abe I need to get a bit closer for this to work."

                "But-!"

                "Don't worry I won't let it take me.  I'm not leaving you."  He placed his hand on her rounded belly, "Either of you."

                The Doctor hoped his plan would actually work.   Last time he threw a dozen Weeping Angels into a crack to close it, but that one had grown to an unbelievable size.  The crack before him wasn't much bigger than the one from Amy's bedroom.   Therefore forcing it all the way open should cause it to snap closed.   Should.

                With one last look at Amy, the Doctor moved as close to the crack as he dared.   Flipping the settings on his sonic, the Doctor pried the Time Crack open.  It was working!  In a great flash of white light the edges of the crack sealed.   The Doctor stared at the now ordinary ground.   In the last seconds before the light disappeared he was sure he heard the sounds of a baby crying. 

                Amy walked up behind him and took his hand.  "I think I'll take that chocolate bar now." she said sadly.

               


	8. Heartbeat

                "Get up!"

                The Doctor jolted awake as Amy hit him in the face with a pillow.  "Oi! What the hell?  Why are you assaulting me?  And why are you in my room?"  He sat up to glare at a manically grinning Amy, only to duck as she aimed another blow to his head.

                "Come on get up! I've been waiting for half an hour.  I can't believe it; I mean I'm _never_ awake before you are.  I wasn't even sure you did sleep." Amy rambled.   She spoke quickly, practically bouncing with excitement.

                "Of course I sleep," the Doctor said bewildered, "just not as much as humans."  

                "Good then let's go!" Amy cried.

                Finally the Doctor's head cleared.  Amy had an appointment at the Tenzor Hospital today.   The Tenzor Hospital on Garneth was one of the best in the universe, with medical sciences far exceeding that of 21st century Earth.   Amy was getting her first ultrasound and would learn her baby's gender.   She was positive it would be a girl while the Doctor, to needle her, said it was going to be a boy.  He knew Amy couldn't wait to prove him wrong.

                "Alright, alright." the Doctor muttered rolling out of bed.

                "Good" With a fierce look of determination Amy yanked open his wardrobe and began throwing clothes at him.   After dodging a tweed jacket, the Doctor managed to rescue his favorite bow tie from her. 

                "Pond I can dress myself thank you.  Managed centuries before you came along."  he said, waving his hands to shoo her away from the wardrobe.

                "Oh really?" Amy raised an eyebrow, "Because you dress like a math tutor."

                "You should see the coat my sixth self wore!" the Doctor shuttered at the memory. "On second thought, no you will never see a picture of that!  Now go away and I'll meet you in the control room in five minutes."

                "It better be five minutes." Amy muttered darkly before leaving.

                His companion always had a fiery temper but pregnancy turned her into a tyrant.   It only seemed to get worse as time went on.   Amy still sung to herself and smiled throughout the day, but her new favorite pastime was ordering the Doctor about.   That was new for him.   Also the TARDIS took her side on _everything_!  Not two days ago the Doctor tried to get out of making dinner, claiming he was busy, when suddenly every door he opened led to the kitchen.  He couldn't escape until he'd cooked a three course meal.   Amy thought it was hilarious.

                Four minutes and 39 seconds later the Doctor arrived in the control room.  Amy's frown disappeared instantly and she knocked the breath out of him with a hug. 

                "Not mad at me anymore?" he asked kissing the top of her head.

                "I wasn't mad just a little impatient."  Amy smiled down at her bump. 

                "A little?"

                "Watch it Time Lord or I'll change my mind about being mad."  she quipped.

                "In that case, to the Hospital."  The Doctor ran around the central tower flipping switches and pushing buttons with his usual wild energy.   The engines whined as they materialized in a broom cupboard at the Tenzor Hospital. 

                "Couldn't we ever park somewhere normal like the parking lot?" Amy asked stepping out.

                The Doctor's eyes widened in shock, "Why would we want to do something normal?"

                Amy giggled at his expression.  "Forgot who I was asking.  The universe would probably implode if you did anything normal."

                "I'm taking that as a compliment."

                The hospital itself looked similar to those on Earth, minus the ugly laminate tiling.  It was maybe a little whiter and brighter but overall a generic hospital.  The only real difference was the patents.  Aliens of every size, shape, and color roamed the halls.   Most were humanoid with only a few key differences such as blue skin or being only 3 feet tall.   A few were extremely different.  One man (at least the Doctor thought it was a man) looked like a round ball of jelly with three eyes and a mouth.

                Eventually Amy and the Doctor reached the floor they were after.  It took longer than expected because the Doctor kept stopping to inspect medical equipment.   There were only a few people in the waiting room when they arrived.   A woman with long pink hair and black eyes, and a couple who each had four arms and insect-like features.  

                After signing in they sat down across from the pink haired woman.   She was reading a Garneth gossip magazine, but looked up when they took their seats.

                "I always find it funny they never change out these things." she said, "I swear this is the same magazine I read the last time I was here."

                "You've been here before?" Amy asked.

                "Round three," the woman said patting her baby bump.  "After the second I said 'never again' yet here I am!"

                The Doctor chuckled, "I remember my wife saying the same thing."

                "Wife?" Amy said shocked.  "You never talk about your family. So you had a wife and children?"

                "And more than a few grandchildren, I could never keep track of them all." he said.  The Doctor smiled at Amy who looked amazed.  

                "You don't look anywhere near old enough to have grandchildren." the woman said with interest. 

                "I'm nearly 908."

                The woman's eyebrows raised making Amy laugh.  "I know that was my first reaction too." she said.

                "So I take it you're not married then?" she stated looking between the Doctor and Amy.

                "I'm like the unofficial godfather." grinned the Doctor.

                Amy glanced at him, "Why unofficial?"

                "Umm…well you never said I was the godfather."

                She rolled her eyes.  "Well who else would it be?" she asked sardonically.

                "Oh!" the Doctor turned back to the pink haired woman, "I guess I'm the official godfather then.  I'm the Doctor and this is Amy, by the way.  Since we rudely didn’t introduce ourselves."

                "It's nice to meet you, I'm Julia.  Is this your first child?" Julia questioned Amy.

                "Yes." Amy smiled, "I didn't really think I was ready to be a mother yet.  But now I can't imagine my life any other way."

                They chatted with Julia for the next few minutes, while waiting for Amy's name to be called.   For the most part the Doctor sat back and listened to the two women talk.  They were discussing female things he didn’t really understand, like finding good fitting shoes during pregnancy.   It always amazed the Doctor how a girl from the small town of Leadworth could get along so easily with aliens from the other side of the galaxy.   Amy was a natural at making friends no matter the circumstances.

                "Amelia Pond!" called a nurse.

                Amy and the Doctor followed him back to an examination room, where they were greeted by a doctor.  In her late thirties with light blonde hair and blue eyes, she looked human.  The Doctor was a bit surprised since there weren't that many humans on Garnthe.

                "Hello Amelia, my name is Dr. Tilly." she said shaking Amy's hand.  "If you could just sit up on the table here we can begin the ultrasound."

                Amy hopped up onto the table looking a little nervous.  Almost unconsciously the Doctor slid over to her and took her hand.  She relaxed slightly.

                "Your chart says this is your first child, is that right?" Dr. Tilly asked while rolling up Amy's shirt to expose her stomach.   "Do you have any questions?"

                "I just want to know my baby's ok.  And gender of course, we have a bet."  said Amy nodding towards the Doctor.

                "What's the bet?"

                "If it's a girl he has to take me shopping."

                Tilly laughed, "Well let's find out then."  She spread gel across Amy's belly, who winced at the temperature.   Slowly Dr. Tilly moved the transducer back and forth making a 3D image appear on the screen beside her.  Amy squeezed the Doctor's hand as she saw her baby for the first time. 

                "It's a girl." Dr. Tilly told Amy.  "A healthy baby girl."

                "She's beautiful!" Amy whispered unable to look away from the tiny life on the screen.

                "Just like her mother." the Doctor said.  He leaned down kiss her on the forehead.  Amy looked up at him her smile radiant.  

                "Would you like to hear your daughter's heartbeat?" Dr. Tilly asked.

                "Yes!" Amy cried.

                Tilly reached up and pressed a button on the monitor.  Suddenly the thrum of a quick, but steady heartbeat filled the room.  Amy gasped, pressing her hand to her mouth.  Tears of joy leaking down her cheeks.  The Doctor realized he was crying too, he was turning into such a softy in his old age.  Or maybe it was just Amy's influence.   But at that moment the Doctor was sure he'd never heard a more beautiful sound than that tiny human heart beating. 

               

                 

               

 

 


	9. Old Friends

The Doctor thought he might prefer a Dalek invasion over shopping.   Especially since Amy demanded said shopping would take place on Earth.  As much as he liked the planet, its stores weren't all that exciting.   Yet, a bet was a bet, so with much grumbling the Doctor landed in 2010 London. 

                "You do realize that any clothes you need the TARDIS will get you." the Doctor said.

                "Yes, and a much as I love her I want to pick out some of my own baby clothes." Amy gave the Police Box an affectionate pat.   "So lead the way man with the money."

                Amy had only been to London once before and wanted to see the sights.  She and the Doctor were having fun playing tourists.  After preventing more citywide disasters than he could count the Doctor knew the layout of London by heart.   He took Amy to a few of his favorite locations, before death marching himself to the shopping district.

                The first thing Amy saw was the candy store.   The Doctor grabbed her hand and rushed across the street.   After so long confined to health food they needed no encouragement.   Giggling like school children they got some of everything much to the owner's amazement.    The Doctor, carrying their bags and munching on Jelly Babies, followed Amy out to go do 'real shopping' as she called it.

                "You're not going to die, you big baby." Amy told him as they left the third clothing store.

                "My wallet might." he muttered.

                "Oh don't give me that! You have unlimited funds." Amy said dismissively.  "How do you have unlimited funds, by the way?  It's not like we get paid to run around saving people."

                "I have my ways." the Doctor replied cryptically.

                "Fine.  I'll let you keep your mysterious persona." she said. 

                Amy stopped in front of a window display for a children's boutique.   It was filled with little dresses and pastel colored baby clothes.   The Doctor thought it looked like someone's Easter basket exploded.  He would know too, having caused such an event once.   Amy pulled him inside and went to find the infant section. 

                The Doctor had to admit he was having fun watching Amy decide weather pandas were a better pattern than ducks.   It didn't matter which she chose he would let her buy both of them anyway.   He wandered over to the stuffed animals.  As official godfather the Doctor figured he should pick out his own special 'welcome to the world' present for his goddaughter.   Humans liked stuffed animals right? 

                The door opened and three people walked into the shop.  The Doctor glanced up absently and nearly dropped the little dolphin he was holding in shock.   A red-haired woman in her thirties came in arm-and-arm with her dark-skinned husband.   A few steps behind them was an elderly man whose white hair was hidden by a red stocking cap.  

                "You didn't have to come Gramps."

                "Of course I did.  Didn't want to get stuck at home with your mother now did I?" 

                It was like seeing a ghost or several ghosts actually.   Donna and Wilfred were in the same shop as him and the Doctor was trying not to panic.   Memories came rushing back to him.  The destruction of Pompeii, the Ood, the radiation chamber, but most of all of Donna begging him to stop as he wiped her mind.   Begging as he took her memories to spare her life. 

                She looked so happy.  The Doctor wanted desperately to talk to her knowing he couldn't.   Donna wouldn't recognize his eleventh body, but he didn't dare risk speaking to her.  The moment she remembered her life with him Donna's mind would burn.  She was just another victim of the curse of knowing the Doctor.  Another innocent life he had destroyed.

                "You're staring at that woman." said his latest victim making him jump. 

                "No I'm not!" the Doctor exclaimed, fighting to keep his emotions under control.  He didn't want to draw attention but Wilf had already turned to look at him curiously.  The Doctor adverted his gaze, his hearts hammering.  He could exchange threats with evilest beings in the universe without breaking a sweat, yet one look at Donna and he went to pieces. 

                "Yes you are."  Worried Amy reached up to touch his face.  "Doctor you're white as a sheet!  What's wrong?"

                "My past catching up to me." he muttered.  The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair, then gestured to the small bundle of clothes in her arms.  "If you're done shopping I suggest we go, umm … hide in the café across the street for a bit."

                Not really understanding, Amy nodded then quickly went to purchase her items.   She followed the Doctor out of the boutique and to the little café.   Amy ordered them two cups of tea while the Doctor sat by the window watching the store they just left.

                "Oh no." the Doctor whispered when he saw Wilf exit the store.   The old man headed straight for the café. 

                "What's going on?" Amy persisted. "Who is that?"

                He didn’t answer because Wilf came in and walked right up to their table.  He was staring intently at the Doctor, his brow furrowed.   Wilf's eyes searched his face closely, as if trying to decide something.

                "Wilfred Mott, the man who saved the world.  Hello again." the Doctor said at last.

                Wilf let out a breath in amazement.   "It is you!  I saw the way you were looking at Donna in the shop.  But I couldn't believe it!  You look so different now.  I know you said you would, but still.  I guess you finally did regenerate."

                The Doctor pulled out the chair next to him for Wilfred to set down.  "Oh I regenerated that night!  I had acute radiation poisoning after all." 

                "Radiation poisoning?" Amy cried.

                "Oh yeah, that's what killed my tenth self." the Doctor said to Amy, "It's not the quickest way to go either.   I managed to save several of my friends and even visit Donna's wedding before the end.  In fact, I spent so long fighting the regeneration that when I finally did it was so violent I practically blew up the TARDIS.   That’s why I crashed in your backyard all those years ago."

                "That sounds horrible." Amy said. 

                "It wasn't the best night ever." he said dryly, "I was convinced that if I regenerated I would die and some stranger would walk off with my memories.  It got very melodramatic towards the end."

                "That's what you told me." Wilf said.  He looked unsure.  "So you're saying you are the same man?"

                "Oh yes it's still me!" the Doctor said, "Besides discovering that bow ties are cool and a new found hatred of apples, I'm the same old Doctor." 

                The Doctor glanced out the window again.  His face grew serious.  "How is she?"

                "She's happy." Wilfred said his eyes watery, "She so happy.  I've got two great-grandbabies now, Rose and John."  The old man chuckled at the Doctor's astounded expression.  "I think you will always be somewhere in the back of her mind.  Donna could never truly forget you, doubt anyone ever could." 

                The Doctor sat there lost in thought.  Donna was happy.  She was ok.  She had two kids named after him and Rose, though Donna didn’t know that.  Maybe, just maybe, he hadn't destroyed her life after all.  He was so detached he barely heard Amy start talking.

                "I'm Amy Pond."  she introduced herself to Wilf.  "It's really nice to meet you.  He doesn't talk about his past much, so I haven't met many of his friends."

                "Wilfred Mott, I was just another one of his human assistants on one his save the planet schemes."

                Amy laughed, "I'm figuring out that’s what all his friends are.  Of course we don't get up to much of the dangerous schemes anymore, do we Doctor?"

                "Cuz, you constantly getting kidnapped is great for Jelly Bean's health." the Doctor said sarcastically.

                "Don't you dare start calling my daughter Jelly Bean!"

                "What?  She doesn't have an actual name yet!  As godfather I think I get the right to make up a pet name for her."

                "Yes and I get the right to use any sharp, dangerous tools I find in the TARDIS to hurt you."

                The Doctor paled under Amy's glare.  Wilfred started chuckling.   

                "You remind me a lot of Donna during her first pregnancy.  Terrifying men everywhere." Wilf winked at Amy, who looked pleased.  "Speaking of, I best get back over there before they realize I'm missing."

                The Doctor hugged Wilf goodbye.  "I hope this isn't the last time I see you Doctor." the old man said before throwing him a salute.

                "I really wish people would stop saluting me." the Doctor muttered watching Wilfred run back across the street.

                "Can you tell me about Donna?"  Amy asked softly, "There is so much about your life I don’t know."

                He drank some tea before responding.  The Doctor always had a hard time discussing the past; it was dark and lonely and filled with so much loss.  Suddenly it was like the words were spilling from his mouth.   The Doctor told her everything about Donna.  Their harebrained adventures, the way she was never impressed by his stunts, the way she yelled at him and ordered him around, how she made him laugh even on the darkest days, he told Amy everything.

                The sun was setting when they arrived back at the TARDIS.  Laden with shopping bags and dead on their feet.  The Doctor helped Amy haul everything to her room knowing his ship would sort it out from there.  They were heading down to the living room for a night of movies and sweets, when a beeping sound rang through the TARDIS. 

                "I've got mail!" the Doctor cried, running to the console.  A green light blinked next to the monitor indicating a new message.  He quickly pulled it up on the screen.   Reading it then clapping his hands in excitement the Doctor spun around to Amy.

                "How would you feel about attending a royal ball?"


	10. 28X

                "Like in the 1500's or something?" Amy asked excited.

                "More like the 52nd century on the planet Oldine." the Doctor replied, "I may have helped out with a giant, city-smashing, lizard robot issue once, so now the King owes me a favor.   It's his family's two hundredth year in the monarchy and I've been invited to the celebration.  You get to be my plus one, or do you count as plus two?"

                "Hey! I'm only four months along!" Amy slapped his arm, "I'm not that big, you jerk."

                The Doctor dodged out of the way before she could hit him again.  "Just joking, Pond.  So what do you say?  Do you want to go to the ball?"

                "I've been waiting for a man to ask me that since I was four years old." Amy said, mock fanning her face.

                "Really?" the Doctor asked.  He couldn't imagine there being any balls in Leadworth in Amy's time period. 

                "Please don't tell me you've never seen _Cinderella_?"

                "The Disney film?"

                "Yes!  Ok first things first, we are watching _Cinderella_ and then we are going to the ball.  How do you manage on Earth without watching Disney movies?"  Amy took off in the direction of the living room. 

***

                "Ta da!" the Doctor cried throwing open the TARDIS' doors dramatically. 

                "Doctor, either your friend owns a really shabby palace or we're in the wrong place." Amy said gazing out. 

                Before them stretched a barren wasteland that looked like the aftermath of an apocalypse.   Thick dark smog filled the air and the gray earth was split with acidic yellow streams.   A millennium's worth of space junk littered the surface; twisted and burned metal forming the land's monuments.  

                "Definitely not Oldine." the Doctor choked on the bitter air.

                "Rory always said you couldn't - Oh my god!" Amy clapped her hands over her mouth.  "I-I remembered something!"

                "What exactly do you remember?" the Doctor asked trying to sound calm.  If Amy could remember Rory it could change everything.  He put his hands on her shoulders, scrutinizing her face.

                "Just that he said you couldn't steer." Amy whispered.  Her brow furrowed in concentration.  "That's it.  I don't remember his face or anything else.  I just know he said that to me!  How can that be possible?"

                Pulling her into a hug the Doctor said, "Nothing is ever truly forgotten.  No matter what the universe says.  You loved him and he's buried somewhere deep in your mind."

                "Do you think I'll ever be able to remember him fully?" she asked looking up at him hopefully.

                "Maybe someday." the Doctor smiled.  He switched topics not wanting to upset her.  "Now I think we better figure out where we are."

                "Hell?" Amy muttered sardonically.

                "I certainly hope not!  I think we're on one of the failed terraformed planets of the Xegean system.   Need to run some scans to be sure though." the Doctor rambled.  He started waving the sonic screwdriver at the ground, wandering back and forth. 

                "The Xegean system is a collection of micro planets each smaller than the Earth's moon.   They tried terraforming them for colonization, but it didn't quite work.  The atmosphere is breathable but, well, look at this place.  Would you want to live here?" he said.

                The Doctor continued examining the terrain for several minutes before confirming that they were indeed in the Xegean system, on the planet 28X to be exact.  Standing above a cliff face, he was trying to determine the oxygen content when Amy interrupted his thoughts.

                "I think someone's coming this way! Fast!" she yelled.

                A hovercraft was speeding in their direction at an impossible pace.  It was just a blur.  Looking past the vehicle, the Doctor realized there was an entire semi-underground structure not far ahead of them.   The smog and space junk almost completely disguised it.  He doubted anyone who chose to live on 28X was a law abiding citizen and certainly not anyone they wanted to meet.

                "He's going to be here in seconds.  Get back inside the TARDIS n-" Suddenly the ground gave way beneath his feet sending the Doctor tumbling down the side of the cliff.

                "DOCTOR!" Amy screamed. 

                Smashing into the rocks at the base, Amy's cry and the engine of a hovercraft were the last sounds he heard before losing consciousness.

                When the Doctor woke he knew he'd been out for at least an hour if not longer.  The sun was in a completely different location.  Spitting out dirt he sat up.  Thank goodness Time Lord body structure was stronger than humans, if not he would probably have several broken bones.  As if was he was just severely bruised. 

                "Amy!" he yelled, "Can you hear me?"

                No one responded.  The Doctor was afraid of that.  Amy would have already made it down to him if she could.  Clearly whoever was driving the hovercraft had taken her.  He growled in frustration.  Protect Amy and the baby!  That was all he had to do!  Anyone else in the universe could manage it except him.  No, he put their lives in constant danger!  The Doctor knew he was kidding himself thinking he could keep his unexpected family safe.  He was the reason Jelly Bean didn't have a father in the first place!

                A switch flipped inside him.  The Doctor was suddenly completely calm, completely devoid of emotion.  There was a reason he was known as The Oncoming Storm, The Destroyer of Worlds.  A reason the monsters in the dark ran at the sight of him.  He was going to get them back and damn anything which got in his way.  

***

                "Fresh meat!" a tall humanoid announced, laughing as he shoved Amy into the room.  "She's a feisty one though, hasn't stopped cussing since I grabbed her."

                Amy, her mouth muffled by a gag, kept up her rant about what she was going to do to all of them the moment she got her hands free.   The hovercraft arrived just after the Doctor went over the ledge.  The driver got more than he bargained for when he tried to subdue her, though.   Amy fought like a hellcat, busting the man's lip and bruising his face.   Yet the gray-skinned, cat-eyed alien was a lot stronger than her.   He managed to overpower Amy and throw her in the back of the vehicle. 

                He then hooked an anti-gravity clamp to the TARDIS so it could be towed behind them.   Interrogating Amy got him nowhere.  Every time he demanded she tell him why she was on 28X and how her ship operated, Amy just continued to scream obstinacies.   Eventually he resorted to gagging her.

                Amy was keeping up a brave face, but she was terrified.  Her baby's life was at stake.  She didn't know what these people wanted or what they would do to her.  If anything happened to her daughter she would never forgive herself.  They dragged her into what looked like an old fashioned gentlemen's club.  The Victorian earth style furnishings clashing with futuristic alien technologies.   There was an assortment of men in the room.  One she recognized as Slitheen, but the others Amy had no clue what they were. 

                Several of them were the same species as her initial captor including the man in charge.   He rose out of his velvet chair to inspect Amy closely.   She didn't like the way his eyes roamed over her body, like she was something to eat.  It took all her willpower not to shiver and continue glaring at him. 

                "She's certainly a looker, even for a human." he said removing her gag and grabbing Amy's chin roughly to examine her face better.

                "Get off me!" she screeched kicking him in the shin. 

                The man started laughing apparently unable to feel the kick.  "You were right, Garrett, this one is a hand full."  

                The other men laughed darkly.  A few of them got up for a closer look.  The whole situation, from their manners to the way the men were dressed, reminded Amy strongly of one of those American gangster films.  A thought which was far from reassuring. 

                "She's knocked up!" said one of the men looking at her stomach.  Amy bristled at the term.

                "Two for the price of one.  I've always loved a bargain." said the leader.   He barred his teeth in the facsimile of a smile.  "I'm Mr. Renton, welcome to my humble facility."

                "I demand you let me go!" Amy spat.

                "Let you go?  When you so conveniently fell into my hands, I think not.  I'm in the business of making money." Renton said.  His eyes greedily slid up and down Amy's body.  "And you, my dear, I think someone will pay a lot for."


	11. The Arrival of Mr. Black

                Amy got dragged down a long series of corridors until they reached a room lined with beds.  It turned out she wasn't the only prisoner.   A collection of girls and two men were also being kept.  They were almost all human.  Garrett instructed the women to inform Amy of her duties and get her a uniform, and then he left slamming the door behind him.

                "How did they get you?" one of the women asked kindly.  She was a little older than the others, in her thirties, and had long black hair braided down her back.  She was beautiful and wearing a simple shift and leggings.   She handed Amy a matching outfit.  It reminded her of _'Tales From A Thousand and One Nights'_ , only without the colorful fabric.  These were all cream.

                "My ship landed here by mistake." Amy said while changing.  She didn't mention the Doctor.  She'd learned the hard way that not everyone could be trusted; any of her fellow captives could be spies.   "What do they want with us exactly?"

                A girl stepped forward out of the shadows.  Amy realized in horror she couldn't be more than thirteen.   She was very small and pixie-like, with a heart shaped face and blonde curls.  "We cook and clean here until they find someone to buy us." she said shyly.

                "So we're slaves then."

                "Yes." the dark haired woman said.  "I'm Irina.  I'd say welcome but that would be pointless."

                "I'm Wendy!" said the young girl, "Are you going to have a baby?"

                In spite of everything Amy had to smile.  "Eventually yes."

                One of the men spoke up, "Oh! This is outrageous!  Imagine holding a pregnant woman hostage, it's against all articles of war!"

                "He's a history professor." Irina muttered to Amy dryly.  "Danix, since when do pirates and contract killers hold to articles of war?  If this were even war and not trafficking."

                Amy decided to break up the discussion and get to business.  "So everyone what's the plan for escape?"

                They looked at her like she was mad.  It was an expression she was pretty used to back in Leadworth.   Four psychiatrists and continued believe that her Raggedy Doctor was real earned her the nickname Crazy Amy.  Well, it didn't stop her then and it wouldn't stop her now.  There was no way she was just going to sit by passively waiting for the Doctor to come save her.   Assuming he hadn't broken his neck in the fall, Amy thought with dread.

                "Please tell me you actually have an escape plan."

                "The only way off this planet is in one of Renton's crafts, which are in the storage bay under constant guard, or with one of his customers.  It's no use." said Irina.

                "There is always a way out." said Amy with conviction.  "If there is anything I've learned it's that.  We just got to find a way past the guards."

                Most of the room gave her pitying looks, except Wendy.   "Do you really think we can?" the girl cried.

                "Yes," said Amy, "I really do."

                Despite Amy's protests it was unanimously decided that she be given the lighter duties due to her pregnancy.   She was teamed up with Wendy, who being the youngest was also given the lightest chores.   They consisted mostly of dusting, serving the men drinks, and acting as a waitress during meals.  

                Serving drinks was easily the worst and best delegation.  Worst because she had to deal with wandering hands and eyes.  And best because Amy could eavesdrop on everyone.   All the men were excited about a client flying in that afternoon.   Apparently he was an infamous hit man, known only as Mr. Black.  Amy thought that sounded horribly cliché.  No one even knew what he looked like.  Mr. Black was just a name associated to the greatest number of assassinations this side of the galaxy.  He was supposed to be cold, ruthless, and very powerful.

                Renton's facility was being used as neutral territory for a monetary exchange between Mr. Black and the Fechix Cartel.  So Mr. Black would be arriving in person which had everyone worked up.   The girls were all terrified.  _Companionship_ was another of their obligations and none of them wanted to attract Mr. Black's attention.  Thankfully Irina explained that little Wendy had been deemed off limits.  She was being preserved, as it were.   Amy decided, then and there, that not only was she escaping but she was going to blow this operation sky-high. 

                Coming up with a plan turned out to be easier than expected.  Amy credited months spent watching the Doctor come up with his harebrained schemes on the spot.  All they needed to do, she explained to the others, was knock out Renton and his men.  They could over power the guards to the storage bay with sheer numbers. 

                "And how would we knock them out?" a girl named Veni asked.

                "Simple put something in the drinks."  Amy turned to the kitchen staff, "What have we got that would put them to sleep?"

                Danix jumped up excited.  "Kalanite oil!  We use it for cleaning the pots, but the ancient Zerbins used it as a poison.  It's odorless and tasteless, and two drops would knock you out for a solid day.  More than two and you might never wake up again."

                "And they just let us have access to this stuff?" Amy wondered.

                "I doubt these thugs ever studied Zerbinan history to know better." Danix said smugly.

                It was perfect.  All they had to do was smuggle the oil from the kitchen to the bar.  Which they could do while bringing in the fresh fruit for the garnishes.  All the men would gather in the lounge to greet Mr. Black once he arrived.  It was the only time they could be sure the men would all drink the oil.  Danix as bartender would make sure they each got the proper dosage. 

                Waiting was the biggest issue.  Everyone was twitchy.  Swapping life stories ended up passing most of the time.  Most people were from the human colony on Yetz which was just outside of the Xegean system.   An Earth-like planet with nearly seven billion inhabitants.  Every other month Renton sent out parties to 'acquire new stock' as he called it.  They would land in different major cities and simply grab people off the streets.  Rudimentary yet effective. 

                A few of the prisoners were not random victims, but hostages for ransom.  Wendy fell into this category.  Her father was some sort of politician with really deep pockets.  Kidnap and ransom was nearly as lucrative a business for Renton as the slave trade.  

                At last the time came for Mr. Black's arrival.  They watched his one-man craft hitting the atmosphere, before being called into the lounge.   There both the men and women were placed around the room like artwork, since no one knew Mr. Black's preferences.   Except Danix who stationed himself behind the bar and Wendy who would be serving the drinks.

                  Amy knew this was all part of the plan, but she desperately wished the girl didn't have to be here.   In the short time she'd know Wendy Amy had grown quite protective of her.  Maybe it was her new mothering instincts kicking in.  She just knew she wouldn't want her own daughter anywhere near this Mr. Black. 

                Renton placed Amy under a light standing against the wall.  Under normal circumstances she would have pitched a fit, but she kept quite.  

                "What happened to my fiery temptress?" he leered.   Amy gave him an impassive stare and didn't respond.  Imagining punching him in the face, Amy let Renton tuck her hair behind her ear. 

                Renton straightened his business suit and moved into position.  He stood in the center of the room emphasizing his power and control.  Moments later Garrett and two other guards entered escorting a man dressed in a dark leather jacket and slacks.  The infamous Mr. Black.  He was tall and thin with slicked back brown hair.

                It was the Doctor. 

 


	12. Playing Parts

                Taking Mr. Black's place had been entirely accidental.   The Doctor was trying to find a way into the building when he saw the ship hit the atmosphere.   It was a small, luxury craft; a Ferrari or Lamborghini in sports car terms.  Whoever owned it was rich and unafraid to show off.        The Doctor ducked out of sight as it came into land.   The moment a man covered in stylized tattooing opened the hatch he pounced.  Pressing the sonic to the man's temple, he dropped like a stone.  The man would be out for hours.   He was fine apart from a slight bleeding from the ears and a killer migraine he would have once he woke up.     Considering his mood, the Doctor thought, the man should just count himself lucky to be alive.

                Boarding the small craft, he hoped to get schematics or at least some information about the building from the ship's computers.   The Doctor stashed the unconscious man in his own cargo hold.   Finding the place filled with knifes, lasers, and an inordinate amount of weapons he decided to handcuff him to the wall as an extra measure.   The weapons were truly unnerving.  Just who were these people?  The Doctor tried to block out the horrifying scenarios involving Amy and men with guns running through his mind. 

                The only thing on the computers' terminal was a series of correspondences between a Mr. Black and a Mr. Renton.   The Doctor discerned from the conversation that the two men were preparing some kind of exchange, but had never actually met.    It was also clear from the overt flattery that Mr. Renton was deeply afraid of the now unconscious man.  From the melodramatic name to the leather clothing it was pretty obvious Mr. Black was a hired gun.

                A humorless smile spread across the Doctor's face.  It was like they'd given him a welcoming invitation.   Why sneak in when you could walk in as an expected guest?  Black's greeting party would be there any minute.   With a regretful sigh he undid his bow tie and unsnapped his braces.  The Doctor quickly stripped the other man of his dark clothes and pulled them on.   He slicked back his hair with a bit of axel grease he found in his pocket.  No idea what it was doing in there along with a cat toy, a diamond earring, and some gum.   Finally his outfit matched his facial expression.   Dark.

                The Doctor stepped out of Black's ship to find three men waiting for him. 

                "Welcome Sir! I'm here to take you to Mr. Renton." said a man the Doctor recognized as a Llaith.  "My name is Garrett, sir."

                The Doctor said nothing.  Garrett shivered visibly under his hollow stare.  The other two guards looked like they wanted to run.  He followed Garrett into the main building, mentally mapping out the corridors all the while looking for Amy or the TARDIS.   Finally they reached a rather ornate wooden door.

                "This is the lounge.  We have anything you want: food, drink, women." Garrett said with an immoral smirk.

                 It took all the Doctor's self control not to strangle him right there.  _Women?_   They were offering women?  He practically vibrated with rage.  If they touched Amy - no he couldn't think about that or he would lose it.  He kept his expression detached and cold. 

                The door swung open to reveal the bizarre approximation of a Victorian gentleman's club.  A man stood in the center of the room commanding attention.   Renton, the Doctor assumed.  This was confirmed when the man strode forward to shake his hand and welcome him to his humble "facility".   The Doctor nodded his acknowledgement but still remained silent.   He could tell it was making the men nervous. 

                His eyes moved around the room impassively over the selection of humans on display until he spotted Amy.   She leaned against the opposite wall under a light, which caused her hair to glow like fire.   Her face betrayed no hint of recognition and the Doctor made sure his did the same.   Amy appeared unharmed, except for a slight bruising pattern on her arm in the shape of a handprint.  The Doctor was staring to find breathing difficult. 

                "I propose a toast to new business ventures." Renton said loudly.  He attempted to regain command of the room, which the Doctor's very presence had diverted. 

                A round of cocktails came out balanced on a tray by a little blonde girl.  The look of pure terror she sent him hurt, but the Doctor didn’t dare drop his persona.   "For you sir?" she asked.

                "Nothing for me, thank you." he said in a dead voice. 

                A clatter of glass at the bar made him glance up.  The bartender had nearly dropped the bottle of Jupiter Gin he was holding.  He looked close to panic.  Amy on the other hand seemed relieved.  He got the message quickly; something was going on with the drinks.  Thankfully Renton didn’t notice anything.   He sipped his liquor without care. 

                Renton snapped his fingers at one of the men who left the room and returned with a suitcase.   He handed the metal case to the Doctor. 

                "I believe everything should be in order." Renton said.

                The Doctor placed it on a table and unsnapped the clasps.  Inside were about 100,000 credits.  "Yes, quite."

                "I know you've had a long journey," Renton smirked.  He led the Doctor over to the artfully arraigned humans.   "Can I offer you something to pass the time before you leave us?"

                He knew he was going to regret this, but he didn't see any other way of getting Amy out of the room.  She could yell at him later, the important thing being that there was a later.   The Doctor sauntered up to Amy with a wicked grin.

                 "I suppose you could tempt me." he said to Renton without taking his eyes of Amy's face.  The Doctor thought she might have a future in theater.  She never once broke character; looking exactly like the scared damsel in distress she was supposed to be.   Though she was probably going to beat him up once they got back to the TARDIS.

                "You have good taste, she's our latest addition." Renton leered, "Bit of a temper but that shouldn't be a problem for a man like you."

                The Doctor groaned internally, this was disturbing and wrong on so many levels.  He wrapped his arm possessively around Amy's waist as he was shown to Mr. Black's guest quarters.   She kept up the appropriate amount of cowering, but their eyes caught at one point and he could tell she was trying not to laugh.

                The Doctor noticed Garrett stumble once in the hallway before returning to the lounge.   The moment the door closed behind him, the Doctor scooped Amy up and spun her around like a child. 

                Laughing Amy cried, "Pregnant here!  Put me down if you don't want me to get sick."

                "Sorry, sorry."  He hugged her tightly.  "Would you please stop getting kidnapped, I'm developing an anxiety disorder.  Are you ok?  Did they hurt you? Is the baby ok?"

                "I'm fine!  We're both fine!" she gave him a dazzling smile, "I'm so glad you're here.  I was afraid you broke your neck or something!  What happened to the actual Mr. Black?"

                "Oh he's currently out cold in his cargo hold." the Doctor said dismissively, "I never knew you were such a good actress.  Your skills would greatly improve Leadworth's amateur dramatics society you're always complaining about."

                "Me? What about you?" Amy's expression turned sad.  "I've never seen you like that before.  So emotionless, like you were dead."

                Before the Doctor could respond the door was thrown open with a bang.  The humans from the lounge ran in welding make-shift weapons.   Instinctively the Doctor pushed Amy behind him.

                "Get away from her!" yelled the man from the bar, waving a bottle and a knife.

                "Danix it's ok!" Amy shouted.  "He's with us!"

               


	13. Third Star to the Right

                "What?"

                 Danix looked from the Doctor who was standing in front of Amy defensively, to Amy who was trying to elbow passed him.   He froze but didn’t drop his weapons.   The Doctor felt sorry for the man, he looked so confused.

                "He's with us." Amy repeated. 

                "He's Mr. Black." said a woman brandishing a wooden spoon.  

                "Actually I'm not," the Doctor said, "My name is the Doctor.  I came to get Amy and I'd like to get you lot out too.  Though first you've got to agree not to kill me with random kitchen utensils."  

                Everyone looked at Amy who nodded encouragingly.  They lowered their weapons apparently relived.  The Doctor didn’t think they were prepared for a fight.  The little girl, who he'd seen carrying drinks, flung herself into Amy's arms.

                "I thought you were going to die!" she cried, "He didn't drink the oil and then he took you away."

                Amy hugged the girl and gave her a reassuring smile.  "But you see I'm fine.  Wendy, I would like you to meet my best friend the Doctor."

                Wendy smiled shyly with a formal curtsy.  She still seemed scared of him.  Not that he could blame her.  The Doctor flashed his trademark foolish grin, "It's nice to meet you Wendy."

                "So I take it the oil worked?" Amy asked the rest of the group.

                "It took longer to take effect than I expected, but yes.  I might even get a paper out of this." Danix exclaimed.

                "Nerd." a dark-haired woman muttered making everyone laugh.

                "Oil?" the Doctor questioned.

                "Kalanite oil.  We put it in the drinks."

                "Ha! Ha! Thank Rassilon I hate alcohol then!  That stuff leaves you feeling like you've got smallpox, food poisoning, and the Cortheian plague at the same time."

                Amy raised her eyebrows.

                "Last I heard the Zerbinans still have a yearly burning of my effigy." the Doctor said. "Of course that's me with curly hair and a ridiculously long scarf.  Still it’s the thought that counts."

                The dark-haired woman stepped forward.  "Irina," she said offering her hand, "Now I suggest we get on with escaping this hell-hole."

                The Doctor rubbed his hands together enthusiastic as always.  He produced his sonic screwdriver from inside his leather jacket.  "So, plan?"

                "All the ships are kept in the storage bay.  They took the TARDIS there as well.  Now that Renton and his goons are out all we have to do is get past the three guards in the bay." Amy explained.

                "Well, what are we waiting for then?" the Doctor cried grabbing her hand.  They led the rag-tag group through the maze of corridors following Irina's directions.   He kept his sonic ready in case they met any patrolling guards.

                "Are you planning to screwdrive them to death then, yeah?" Amy whispered.

                "No I'm going to use sonic waves to temporarily short out their brainwaves.  Think of the vibrations of one tuning fork cancelling out another…. Wait no that’s rubbish.  Forget the forks." the Doctor muttered distracted.

                They got half-way to the storage bay before the alarms started blaring.  Warning lights flashed along the hallway.   They could hear guards shouting over the cacophony.

                "I think someone checked the lounge."

                Two men crashed into the corridor behind them. 

                "So basically run?" Amy shouted.

                "Yep." the Doctor yelled, "RUN!"

                They took off in a sprint.  Tearing down the hallways, ignoring the guards screaming for them to stop.  Until one of the men starting firing.  A bullet whizzed over their heads burring itself in the opposite wall.  Wendy shrieked but didn’t stop.

                "That's it!" Irina cried pointed to a large metal door ahead of them.

                The Doctor aimed the sonic at it more worried about the guards behind them than the ones in front for the moment.   The lock clicked and the door swung open.   He stepped to the side as the humans barreled in after him.   Another bullet ricocheted off the doorframe.   He slammed the door closed and deadlock sealed it.

                Outnumbering them nearly four to one the rest of the group charged the storage bay patrolmen.  Danix smashed his bottle over one man's head sending him to the ground.  The other two guards managed to draw their guns.   The Doctor ran forward aiming his sonic.  The sound waves caught one man before he could fire, but with the other he wasn't so lucky. 

                The report echoed deafeningly in the enclosed space as the revolver went off.  Amy let out a small gasp and then crumpled to the floor. 

                "AMY!"

                The Doctor charged forward, completely disregarding the weapon still amid in his direction.   He crashed into the Llaith throwing them both to the ground.   Flipping the sonic to the highest setting the Doctor pressed it to the man's temple.   The man seized as the sound waves hit his inner ear effectively shorting out his brain.  He would be permanently deaf, that is, if he ever regained consciousness. 

                Scrambling to his feet, the Doctor ran to Amy's side.   Her cream linen uniform was already seeped in red.   Everyone moved out of the way as the Doctor picked her up bridal style and ran towards the TARDIS.   He had to get Amy to the medical bay immediately. 

                Amy's breathing was shallow and he could hear her whispering over and over.  "I can't lose her.  Oh please, I can't lose her." 

                The TARDIS' doors swung open of their own accord.  His ship understood what was happening.   As the Doctor raced to the med bay he felt Amy's body growing warmer.   The opposite effect of blood loss.   Suddenly Amy cried out as the wound on her chest began to glow golden.   The Doctor carefully laid her on the examination table.  He couldn't comprehend what was happening. 

                Sparks of gold Time Energy danced across Amy's skin.   It was impossible; humans simply couldn't do this.   He quickly cut away her shift to expose the bullet wound.  Except there was no wound.   Before the Doctor astonished eyes her glowing skin knitted itself back together.   Amy was hyperventilating.  He'd never seen her this terrified before.

                Her eyes were wide, tears streaming down her pale face.   "Doctor what is this?  What's going on?" Amy cried, "Please don't let her die.  Oh god, please don’t let me lose her."

                "It's going to be ok.  You're going to be ok.  You're both going to be ok."   Running the sonic across her the Doctor willed his words to be true.   He examined the readings in shock. 

                "It's the baby." he whispered.

                "What's the baby?  What's wrong with her?"

                "Nothing." the Doctor said.  An amazed smile split across his handsome features as he looked down at Amy.  "Nothing's wrong with her.  She's healing you both."

                "What?"  Amy asked, confused and fearful.

                "She's using Time Energy to heal you.  The wound has already closed and the bleeding has stopped.  You're going to be ok."

                Amy touched her rounded belly; her skin still glittered with the golden energy.   "But she's human, how can my daughter have Time Energy?"

                "I'm not exactly sure." The Doctor admitted.  He ran his fingers through his hair thinking it over.  "Yes Jelly Bean is definitely human, but a few extra traits."  He glanced over at the monitor display next to the table.  "A few Time Lord-like traits."

                Amy sat up staring at him, holding her shift together.  "You're not her father."

                The Doctor flushed slightly as realization dawned on him.  "Obviously, but if my calculations are correct then she was well… _created_ while you were traveling with me.  In other words while you and Rory were in the Time Vortex.   My people only became Time Lords due to prolonged exposure to the Time Vortex, granted it took us thousands of years.  It seems your daughter jumped an evolutionary track or two.   She might age a bit slower and heal bit faster than other humans, but overall it shouldn’t affect her life too much."

                Amy nodded absorbing the onslaught of information.   It was a lot to take in.  The Doctor stayed quiet letting her think.  She was still glowing slightly which puzzled him.   There was nothing left for the energy to heal.   Without warning Amy screamed.  She doubled over wrapping her arms around her stomach.   He grabbed her shoulders preventing her from falling off the table.  

                "It hurts!" Amy cried, "Oh god it hurts!"

                The Time Energy glowed brighter than before now concentrated on her lower abdomen.   Still screaming in pain Amy passed out.   The Doctor carefully laid her down.  In a panic he turned back to the monitor.  The baby was completely surrounded by Time Energy and she was growing.  The Time Energy was accelerating the pregnancy exponentially.   The Doctor had no idea what to do.   Time Energy in the blood often caused Time Lord Offspring to develop quickly, but in those circumstances the mother had a body designed to handle such an event.  Amy's frail human body certainly wasn't.   The Doctor winced as one her ribs broke with a loud crack. 

                Just as suddenly as it started the acceleration stopped.   The energy dissipated and the golden glow faded from Amy's skin.   Slowly her breathing and heart rate returned to normal.   The Doctor scanned her again.   Everything was as it should be minus the broken rib.  Except instead of being four months pregnant Amy was now closer to seven months.   

                The Doctor knew Amy would be asleep for hours.   Her body needed to recover from shock and trauma.   Sighing he searched the medical cabinets until he found the vial he was looking for.   As the Doctor gave Amy an injection, that would help repair the fracture and lessen the pain, he heard a noise behind him.   Irina stood in the doorway watching him.

                "Is she alive?"

                The Doctor gave a weak smile.  "Yeah they're both alive."

                "Thank goodness, we were all so worried." Irina said.

                It was only then that the Doctor remembered everyone else.   After throwing a blanket over Amy he followed Irina back to the console room.   The rest of the humans were sitting on the floor unsure what else to do.  They all jumped to their feet when the Doctor entered with Irina.   Wendy who had been sobbing into Danix's shoulder looked up fearfully.   They all started asking questions at once.

                "Amy and the baby are ok." Irina shouted over them.   The Doctor was grateful, he felt too mentally drained to do the talking.  "The Doctor said he will take us all back to our homes."

                "Also I'm sending a message to the local Judoon fleet since they police this side of the galaxy.   Renton and Mr. Black will be out of business for good." the Doctor said, typing on a keyboard.  "There won't be any more slave trading on 28X."

                Everyone cheered and congratulated one another on their brilliant escape.   It didn’t take long to return everyone back to Yetz.  Most people were in tears at the thought of getting to see their families again.  Only Irina, Danix, and Wendy stayed behind.  They wanted to wait until Amy woke so they could say goodbye. 

                After the Doctor washed all the blood off of him and changed into his own clothes, he scrounged up some food from the kitchen.   The four of them sat eating at a table in the medical bay waiting for Amy to open her eyes.   Less than two hours later Amy blinked awake.  The Doctor rushed to her side. 

                "Hey sleepy head!" he said brightly. 

                She smiled up at him then seemed to remember where she was.  Amy tried to sit up but he pushed her back down.

                "You've got a broken rib so no moving for a bit." the Doctor told her.

                The other three moved so she could see them.  Wendy grabbed Amy's hand tightly, smiling like it was Christmas.

                "Your plan worked, we escaped and now Renton is going to jail!"

                Amy laughed softly, "My plans always work."  Her eyes moved past Wendy and focused on her bump, which was now much larger than before.  Amy gasped.  "What happened?"

                The Doctor cut in before she could panic.  "I could give you a complex explanation with a bunch of scientific jargon, but you'd probably hit me.  Basically your pregnancy was accelerated.  Jelly Bean is fine though!" 

                Amy looked overwhelmed.  She focused on the second part of his statement.  "What did I tell you about calling my daughter Jelly Bean?"

                "It's cute and I don’t have anything else to call her!"

                "Actually I think I've found the right name," Amy smiled at the little blonde girl. "Her name is going to be Wendy.  It's just too perfect.  The young girl who is taken to the stars by the boy who never grows up and never ages."

                The Doctor made a face.  "I am not Peter Pan.  I don’t wear green tights."

                "Just green bow ties."

                "Bow ties are cool!" the Doctor said. "But I think Wendy is a beautiful name."

                It was obvious that Amy was already drifting back to sleep, so everyone said their goodbyes quickly.  Amy and the Doctor promised that they would visit them again someday.  After they each gave Amy a careful hug they left her to rest. 

                The Doctor piloted the TARDIS to their homes and the waiting arms of their families.  He didn’t miss the fact that Irina and Danix left holding hands.   With a final wave he closed the doors and vanished back into the Vortex.  

                "You know dear," the Doctor said patting the console, "I think my life has gotten way too complicated in my old age."

                The engines hummed cheerfully in response.

                "Well I'm glad someone finds it funny."

 


	14. Dancing in a Glass Castle

                It took nearly two weeks, even with the advanced medicine, to heal Amy's rib.  They spent the time idling in the Time Vortex.  Once she was able to move Amy had to relearn to walk.  The acceleration of her pregnancy didn’t give her muscles time to adjust.  Now Amy overbalanced so often the Doctor had to walk behind her to stop her from falling over every few minutes.

                Amy quickly got fed up with the situation.  Frustrated, tired, and sore, she decided the whole thing was his fault.

                "How can it be my fault?" he demanded of the angry red-head.

                "My life was completely normal till you showed up!  And now my baby is part alien!"

                "No she's not.  She's completely human!  As for the rest you may as well blame the TARDIS."  The lights in the room flashed dangerously.  The Doctor continued hurriedly, "Not that you should.  Honestly, Pond, would you really prefer to be in Leadworth?"

                The Doctor sighed, he'd been afraid of this.  But for Amy he would do anything.  "If that's what you want," he said placing his hands on her shoulders, "I can take you back in an instant.  You can go back to your normal life.  Buy a house; get a dog, or whatever it is humans do."

                Amy stared at him and started laughing.  She threw her arms around him in a hug, which was difficult due to her size.  Taken aback by her abrupt attitude change, he just stood there awkwardly for a minute.

                "Does this mean you're staying?"

                "Of course I am you idiot." Amy chuckled.  She kissed him on the cheek, rolling her eyes.  "I don’t think you're ever getting rid of me.  Besides what would my aunt think when she wakes up in the morning to find me hugely pregnant?"

                "That would be an odd conversation." the Doctor grinned, happy she was no longer yelling at him.  It was something he'd been thinking about lately.  How were they supposed to explain Wendy to anyone from Amy's old life?  He knew Amy wanted her aunt to meet her daughter at some point.

                When the cracks erased someone from history memories of them were edited over in whatever fashion the brain thought logical.  Rory wasn't the first person to vanish from Leadworth.  There was a reason Amy didn’t have parents.  The Doctor couldn’t tell her though; her brain may simply be unable to handle the information.  He couldn’t risk it.

                The baby couldn't be explained away.  She was a paradox and paradoxes were dangerous.  Having Sharon meet little Wendy would unleash a whole manner of not good.

                Amy interrupted his mental ramblings.  "So now that I'm healed and more or less stable.  Can we finally go to the ball?"

                "Are you sure?"

                "Yeah, I've given up on my dream of arriving in a sexy, Bond girl dress." she said, "Actually I have no idea what I'm going to wear now."

                "I'm sure the wardrobe will have something, it always does." the Doctor said.

***

                The Doctor, in a tux complete with a black bow tie and top hat, waited for Amy by the front doors.  She'd been gone so long he was considering going to look for her, worried she might have fallen or something.  Though 900 years taught him to avoid entering female companion's rooms.  It often resulted in yelling and things being thrown at his head.  He would give Amy five more minutes.

                Three minutes later Amy appeared at the top of the stairs.  She was dressed in a shimmering, gold gown with an empire waist, which showed off her baby bump.  Her fiery hair expertly twisted up and pinned with little golden pearls.

                "Blimey!" the Doctor cried, rushing to help her down the steps.

                "Thanks," she said smiling, "It was just hanging in my room when I got there."

                "Good old TARDIS.  Still not exactly sure how she does that."             

                "She's a girl's best friend." Amy agreed patting the wall affectionately.  The engine hummed in response.  "You don't clean up so bad yourself."

                The Doctor bowed low then offered Amy his arm.  Giggling she attempted to curtsey, threading her arm threw his.  Grinning he led Amy out into Oldine's Capital. 

                "It's the Emerald City!" she cried in amazement.

                The TARDIS had landed in a circular plaza before a magnificent palace.  Towering spires of green crystal stretched into the violet night sky.   It was like a fairytale castle made of glass.  The whole city, buildings, streets, trees, sparkled in every shade of green imaginable. 

                They followed the crowed of fashionably dressed men and women up the Grand Staircase and into an opulent ballroom.  Giant emerald chandeliers hung from the ceiling scattering light across the marble floor.  Raised on a dais, about head height, in the center of the room was a miniature version of the ballroom.  A tiny walkway suspended in the air led across to it.  Small creatures with lavender skin twirled on the smaller floor.

                "Oldine is populated by two races," the Doctor explained, "Humans and the Fei Fei.  This is one of the few planets in the universe where multiple species live in complete harmony."

                "They're beautiful." Amy breathed, watching the Fei Fei waltz in time with the orchestra.  "Like pixies."  

                The Doctor pointed to the end of the room.  "That's King Lockard and his family."

                Amy stood on tip toe, squinting at the people occupying the four gilded thrones.  The King was square-jawed and proud with sandy blonde hair.  The Queen was surprisingly plain, but had a kind smile.  Their two children sat on either side of them.  The girl took after her mother, while the boy was the exact image of his father.  They each wore circlets of green metal shaped into twisting vines.

                The Doctor watched happily as Amy spun around trying to see everything at once.  Many men had already turned to stare as her gown shimmered in the lights.  Amy's pregnancy only increased her beauty.  He didn’t have any romantic feelings towards her, she was his best friend, but he'd be blind not to notice.

                "Oh! They have a buffet." Amy said. "I wonder if they have strawberries.  I would kill for a strawberry."

                Amy's life seemed to revolve around food now.  She was constantly hungry and craving things even _he_ thought were random, such as chocolate topped with wasabi.  Yuck.  "Let's go find out and if they don’t afterward I will take you somewhere they do."

                "First food then dancing." she said.  Amy looked at him speculatively, "Can you dance?"

                "Of course I can dance!" the Doctor said.  Well, he used to be able to dance.  His current body was a lot clumsier than any of his previous, but he was sure he could manage a waltz.

                The buffet was impressive to say the least.  It was enough artfully arranged food for more than a thousand people.  The Doctor hung back while a delighted Amy wandered off in search of strawberries.

                "Well, hello there." said an all too familiar voice.  A handsome man with a devilishly alluring smile slid up to him.  "And here I thought the night was going to be rather dull, but then I saw you.  Now everything is looking up."

                The Doctor resisted the urge to groan at the innuendo.  "Jack Harkness do you ever change?"

                The man's eyes widened and he took a step closer, "Doctor?"

                "Captain."

                "Whoa! You've gone and done it again." Jack cried.  He looked the Doctor up and down appreciatively.  "And may I just say looking fine."

                "Stop it." the Doctor muttered turning red.

                Jack chuckled at his friend's expense.  "This version blushes! Wow this could get interesting."

                Flustered, the Doctor fiddled with his bow tie trying to ignore Jack's overt flirting.  "You're ridiculous."

                "They do have strawberries.  Well they look like strawberries anyway." Amy said appearing at his side.  She noticed Jack, "Oh hello."

                Jack's eyes widened to near comical proportions taking in Amy, then glancing at the Doctor, and back to Amy again.  "No way! You didn’t!"

                "What?"

                Jack pointed an accusing finger at him, "You're having a kid."

                Amy scoffed irritated, "Like I'd have a child with him."

                "Oi.  Thanks Pond." the Doctor muttered sarcastically.

                "So you're not married?" Jack asked confused.

                "No." Amy and the Doctor said at the same time.

                "But I heard you got married?"

                "Who told you that?"

                "It's just a rumor that’s been floating around the universe." Jack said.

                "River." Amy said.

                "Who?"

                "I am not married to River." the Doctor snapped.

                "But you will be, yeah."

                "You don’t know that."

                "Woman's intuition."  Amy stated sagely.

                The Doctor growled in annoyance, while Jack who'd been watching the conversation with interest laughed.  "I really must meet this River person."

                "No.  That’s the last thing I need." the Doctor cried.

                Still chuckling, Jack turned his full charming attentions on Amy.  "So if you're not with him then might I interest you in a dance, Miss?"

                "Pond, Amy Pond."

                "Just because you're immortal doesn’t mean I can't find ways to hurt you." the Doctor warned.

                "I'll be the perfect gentleman." Jack said linking his arm with Amy's.

                "You forget I know you."

                "Words wound, Doctor." Jack led her off towards the dance floor.

                The Doctor watched Jack and Amy twirl around the ballroom.  He definitely didn’t expect to run into Jack here.   Hopefully Torchwood wasn't lurking in the shadows waiting to capture 'Enemy Number One', though that seemed unlikely given that they were on the opposite side of the galaxy to Earth.  He wondered if Jack had heard from Martha and Mickey lately.

                After a few songs Amy and Jack returned for something to drink.  Handing Jack her glass Amy grabbed the Doctor's hand.

                "Time to prove you can dance." she said.

                "Ummm…"

                "You could always dance with me." Jack raised a suggestive eyebrow.

                "I think I'll go with her." he said letting Amy drag him off.

                Waltzing was fun!  Even if Amy kept laughing at his uncoordinated movements.  People moved out of their way so it didn’t matter.  They were both laughing like fools by the time the song ended.

                "May I cut in?" asked a voice.

                The Doctor turned to find the sandy haired Prince.  He was smiling shyly at Amy.  With his hair, blue eyes, and slightly large noise the Doctor couldn’t help but think he looked like…

                "You look oddly familiar." Amy said, "Though I imagine I would remember if we'd met before, your Majesty."

                "My name is Erik and I know I would remember you, my lady." the Prince said making her blush.

                The Doctor decided it was time to disappear.  He nodded formally to the royal then went to find Jack.  He glanced back at Amy who looked happy but confused.  Somewhere in her mind she recognized that the man had a startling resemblance to her fiancée.

                Jack was already occupied with a pretty woman.  Not shocking as this was _Jack_.  As the night wore on Amy danced with more men than he could count.   The Doctor and Jack danced with her a few more times as well.  Before the ball came to an end, much to his embarrassment, the Doctor was dragged up onto the stage with the Royal family.  They presented him with a medal as 'Savior of the City'.

                As they were leaving the castle Amy turned to the Doctor, "Can we ask Jack to come with us?  Please?"

                He rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.  "Oh go on then."

                Amy ran off, returning with a grinning Jack a few minutes later.   Jack wrapped his arm around the Doctor's shoulders with a wink. 

                "Allons-y!"

 


	15. The Pandorica

                Amy was using the Doctor as a pillow and Jack as a footrest.  They were currently in the living room having a movie marathon.  Tonight's theme was fairytales.  A children's section recently appeared in the library complete with a sitting room overlooking the swimming pool.  Amy was enchanted with the fables of other planets, resulting in their watching the movie adaptations. 

                "Ouch!" she cried out.

                "What?" asked the Doctor and Jack.

                "Nothing, I just think this kid's going to be an Olympian if her kicking is any indication." said Amy.

                Both men placed their hands on her belly to feel Wendy kicking out against them.  Smiling, Amy rolled her eyes at their expressions.  The Doctor was fascinated with the baby's movements; he couldn’t help grinning like an idiot every time he felt them.  Jack wasn’t much better.

                Wendy had grown so much that he could now hear her tiny heart beating.  The first time he heard it the Doctor ran over to Amy and pressed his ear against her stomach.  This, of course, resulted in Amy whacking him on the head and asking if he'd gone mad.  Once he explained she was just as excited as he was.  That's when Jack walked in with an off-color remark about their position.  The Doctor hit him in the face with a bouncy ball.

                As the credits rolled the Doctor was struck with a sudden idea.  "I can't believe I've never thought of this before!  We need to go to Planet 1!"  He grinned down at Amy who looked confused.

                "That's where the oldest writing in the universe is." Jack said.  "Oh… and we have a universal translator."

                "Exactly!" the Doctor exclaimed.  "We can read the very first words in recorded history.  No one has ever translated them before or even knows who carved them into a solid diamond cliff face."

                "Diamond?  Well, you know I'm in." said Amy.

                They levered Amy off the sofa and headed to the control room.  Gesturing wildly in his excitement the Doctor ran around the console flipping switches. 

                "Here we go!  Oldest planet in the universe."

                Jack, Amy, and the Doctor stepped outside into a jungle filled with mushrooms taller than the TARDIS.  Ahead of them rose a sparkling cliff engraved with letters nearly 50ft high.  Completely legible letters at that.

                The Doctor couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  There was no way, not here.  He was going to make history decoding the first message in the universe.  Behind him Amy started laughing, because the giant letters spelled out the words 'HELLO SWEETIE'.

                "That infernal woman!"

                "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jack exclaimed.

                The Doctor didn’t answer.  He ran back inside to enter the coordinates carved below the words.  River needed him for something.  He was going to show up, if for no other reason than to berate her for making him show up.  Definitely not because he wanted to see her again, definitely not.

                "Does someone care to explain?" Jack said watching the Doctor skid across the glass floors muttering to himself.

                "I think you're going to get to meet River."

                With an echoing thud the TARDIS landed.  Sighing, the Doctor headed outside to see what he was being dragged into this time.

                "Earth, 1:02 Am." he said, checking his watch.  "No wait, 102 AD."

                "Romans." Jack noticed a legion camped out at the base of a hill.

                "The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period." the Doctor said sounding like a textbook.

                "My favorite subject at school." Amy said, "Invasion of the Hot Italians."

                The Doctor gave her an incredulous look, while Jack burst out laughing.

                "I did get marked down for the title." she admitted.

                A soldier came running up to them.  He saluted the Doctor falling to his knees, "Hail Caesar!"

                "Hi."  Well that didn’t happen every day.  The three of them exchanged raised eyebrows.  "Arise Roman… person."

                "Cleopatra will see you now." said the soldier.

                Cleopatra?  If this was 102 AD Cleopatra was dead.  The Doctor noticed the Roman's mouth was smeared with red lipstick.  Hardly fitting with the time period.  It convinced him who this 'Cleopatra' was.

                "Why does he think you're Caesar?" Amy whispered as they followed the soldier to the camp.

                "Hallucinogenic lipstick." Jack said, "Someone is controlling him with suggestion."

                The Doctor nodded but didn’t elaborate, he was currently too annoyed.  The Roman led them to a guarded tent ushering them inside.  The Doctor stepped through the flap then couldn’t decide whether to laugh or start yelling.  He settled on glaring at the woman before him.

                "Hello sweetie." said River.  She was dressed in full Egyptian royal garb complete with a black wig.  The Doctor doubted Cleopatra could have looked any better.  Not that he was going to tell her that.

                "You graffitied the oldest cliff face in the universe!" he hissed.

                "You wouldn't answer your phone!" she shot back.  River looked past him and smiled.  "Hello Amy, and Jack what in the world are you doing here?"

                "You know me?" Jack asked.

                "Oh we've had many _escapades_."  she said, pointedly ignoring the Doctor's expression.  "When I first meet you, you already knew me.  Now this explains it."

                "Nope still lost."

                "She's going in the opposite direction in time from the Doctor.  She knows us from the future." explained Amy.

                "One of the major downfalls of time travel." Jack said.

                River hugged Amy, "My goodness girl!  How far along are you?"

                "Eight months, more or less.  Between the Vortex and a pregnancy acceleration it's kinda hard to keep track, yeah." Amy said.  "I've at least past the point of ever being comfortable again."

                "She's also constantly hungry." the Doctor added.

                "Speaking of, does anyone…?"

                Jack produced a slightly battered sandwich wrapped in cellophane and handed it to her.  While Amy munched happily the Doctor turned his focus back on River.

                "I'm assuming there is a reason you brought me here?"

                "Yes." River became serious, "I have something for you.  It's from your friend Vincent."

                She handed him a tube of canvas.  Everyone came to stare over his shoulders as the Doctor carefully unrolled the painting.  He held his breath dreading what he would find.  Staring at the masterpiece he wasn't disappointed.

                The expressionist had depicted his beautiful TARDIS exploding.  The Doctor recognized it instantly.  He already knew this moment was coming.  The TARDIS exploding caused the universe and all of time to shatter.  He'd know since the night Rory died, yet the Doctor still didn’t know why.  Nothing should have the power required to blow up his ship.

                "There is something else isn't there?" the Doctor asked River.  He already felt bad for snapping at her.  She was trying to protect him.  And he knew one day it would get her killed, he'd seen it.

                "It's titled _the Pandorica Opens_."

                That got his attention.  The Doctor started pacing, running his fingers through his hair. 

                "The Pandorica is just a legend." Jack said.  "Like the Holy Grail or the Fountain of Youth."

                "It's here and it's now."  River indicated where Vincent had included the date and location in the painting.

                The Doctor pulled one of the maps off the wall and spread it across the table.  "If you're going to bury something for thousands of years, you really need something to remind you where you put it.  Ah hah!"

                "You've got to be kidding." said Amy realizing what he was pointing at.

                Amy was none too pleased to discover that they would be riding to the Pandorica's location on horseback.    She ended up riding side-saddle behind the Doctor with a death grip around his waist.   He just hoped she wouldn’t get sick on him.  That was a dramatic entrance he didn’t want to make.

                Ahead of them loomed a circle of megalithic post-and-lintels of carved stone.  Most had collapsed due to time and erosion, but some still stood.   Stonehenge.   The Doctor thought it seemed perfectly fitting that one of Earth's greatest mysteries had to do with aliens, because honestly when didn't it?  It always amazed him how humans chose not to believe in life outside their planet no matter how many invasions he thwarted.   They may be a particularly resilient species but most of them were a bit thick.

                They dismounted and began inspecting the area.   Well River, the Doctor, and Jack did anyway.  Amy ended up sitting on a fallen stone looking miserable. 

                "Why does it look old?" she asked.

                "Because it already is." River replied, "No one knows how long it's been here."   The older woman stopped what she was doing to sit down next to Amy.  She rubbed the girl's back comfortingly, "Are you alright dear you look pale?"

                "I'm fine." Amy's smile wasn't convincing. 

                "I think I've found it!" the Doctor called out, "We need to get below."

                "Below?"

                "Of course!" River cried, jumping up to stand next to the Doctor.  She scanned the stone he indicated, "It's a door." 

                River pulled out one of her many gadgets and clamped it to the rock.   Within seconds it beeped and the stone slid aside to reveal a descending staircase.   The Doctor watched her work in admiration.  She really was quite impressive.   The whole prior knowledge thing was a bit disconcerting though.  What was River to him in the future?   

                They found torches on the tunnel wall.   The Doctor lit them with his screwdriver giving them a small amount of light.  Amy stayed in the middle of the group as they went down the darkened stairs that way if she tripped someone could catch her.   The Doctor noticed she seemed to be increasingly uncomfortable. 

                At the end of the tunnel was a pair of huge wooden doors.  Jack and the Doctor handed the torches to the girls.   They braced their shoulders against the doors and nodded at each other, before forcing them open.   Inside was a cavern lit with unseen artificial light.   The Doctor took the torch back from Amy then led the way inside.  

                In the center of the room was a massive metal cube.   On each face were intricate circular carvings.  They made it look elegant, but the Doctor knew what this was.  The Pandorica, the greatest prison in the universe.   He'd never believed in the stories before, though it appeared someone had.  Littered across the dirt floor were the scattered remains of a Cyberman.   He hoped it had only pissed off the Celts and no one less _local_ was hanging around waiting for them.

                "There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior." the Doctor said.  He inspected the box trying to fathom how any of this could be possible.  "A nameless terrible thing soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies.   The most feared being in all the cosmos.  And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it.  One day it would drop out of the sky and tear down your world."

                "How did it end up in there?" Amy whispered.   
                "You know fairytales, a good wizard tricked it." Jack said.

                River rolled her eyes, "I hate good wizards in fairytales they always turn out to be him."

                "So it's almost like Pandora's Box then?  That was my favorite book when I was a kid."

                The Doctor froze.  Things were starting to make sense to him and he didn't like the way they were adding up.  "Your favorite school topic, your favorite book.  Never ignore a coincidence, unless you're busy then always ignore a coincidence."

                "You won't have long to wait, it's already opening.  There are layers, and layers of security protocols in there.  And they're being disabled one by one like its being unlocked from the inside." River said looking at her scanner.

                "How long do we have?" Jack asked circling the Pandorica.

                "Hours at most."

                "What kind of security?"

                "Everything, deadlocks, time stops, matter lines." she said, fear creeping into her voice.

                "What could need all that?" Jack wondered.

                "What could get passed all that?"

                Amy turned to the Doctor, "How could Vincent know about this?  He won't be born for centuries."

                The Doctor waved his sonic around the room.  "It's the pillars, they're transmitting 'The Pandorica is opening' to every time, everywhere.   It even reached poor Vincent.  You remember how perceptive he was, he knew you were pregnant before you were showing."

                Jack grabbed his arm, "If it's transmitting everywhere then who else is coming?  It holds the evilest thing in the universe, everyone will want it!"

                The Doctor went pale.  "Umm…River?"

                "On it." she held her scanner to one of the pillars.  He could see her swallow.  "This planet is surrounded by starships."

                "How many?"

                "Thousands, millions, I don't know there are too many readings!"

                River adjusted the instrument.  Suddenly a chilling, robotic voice rang throughout the cavern.  The kind of voice that could be mistaken for nothing else.

                "Daleks!"

                River continued reading her scanner, "Daleks, Cybers, Sontarans, Judoon, Slitheen… everything that ever hated you is coming here tonight."  She looked up at the Doctor in fear.  "You have to get out of here.  You can't fight this, you have to run!"

                "Run where?" he cried.   There was nowhere to run and he knew it.  The Doctor glanced over at Amy who had her arms wrapped around her belly protectively.   She stared back at him in horror.   The Doctor had led her and the baby to their deaths. 

                Without warning Amy screamed and dropped to her knees.   The other three ran to her side. 

                "Amy what is it?" the Doctor demanded urgently.

                Her eyes were wide with panic.  "She's coming!"

                "What now?"

                "You think I'd make it up?" Amy hissed.  She cried out as her body was hit with another contraction.  

 

 

 

 


	16. What Should Have Been And What Is

                "I think your daughter wins the worst timing in the universe award." the Doctor joked hoping to calm Amy as well as himself.

                Amy gripped his hand so hard he thought his fingers would break.  Tears leaked down her face as she dealt with the pain.  The Doctor turned to River.

                "I need you to get the TARDIS." he said.                               

                She nodded opening the Vortex Manipulator on her wrist.  Dialing into the Keypad River disappeared in a puff of smoke.

                Jack picked up a discarded Cyber arm and aimed in like a gun at the doors.  Nothing was getting past him.  The Doctor glanced over at the cause of their current predicament.  He no longer wanted to know what was in the Pandorica.  If it got out, whatever it was would probably kill them before the Daleks got the chance.   The artificial lighting flickered as Amy suffered another contraction.

                "This is gonna be one hell of a story to tell the grand kids!" Jack yelled over his shoulder.

                "I don’t think I can do this." Amy whimpered.

                "Yes you can." the Doctor said.   He stroked her hair soothingly.  "You've dealt with far scarier things than childbirth.   You have faced Daleks, Weeping Angels, Vampire Fish People, and angry Mobsters and you have beaten them all.  You, Amelia Pond, can do anything."

                "I can do anything." she repeated, obviously trying to convince herself.  "I can do this."

                The lights flashed again raising the hairs on the back of the Doctor's neck.  As a Time Lord he was attuned to some things other species couldn't feel, not until it was too late anyway.  A pins-and-needles sensation spread up his arms from where his skin made contact with Amy's.   Paradox Energy.  It was building.  A child, a child with no father, a child who couldn't possibly exist was about to enter the world.  And the world was fighting back.

                The whining of the TARDIS engines echoed throughout the cavern as it materialized.   The doors flew open with a bang.

                "Hurry! She's fighting me!" River cried from the console.

                "Jack help me with Amy!" shouted the Doctor.

                Jack threw aside his make shift weapon and ran to Amy's side.  The Doctor helped keep her steady as the immortal lifted her into his arms.  Jack carried Amy towards the med wing.   The moment he passed the threshold the doors slammed closed.   The Doctor wrenched on the handles, screaming in frustration.

                "No! No! No! What are you doing?" he cried, as the ship dematerialized before his eyes.  He spun around in circles panicking.  The TARDIS was gone.  What was he supposed to do?

                The Doctor knew it was a failsafe.  The TARDIS was protecting Amy.  His ship would do anything to keep her safe.  The question was: what was it protecting her from?

                He quickly got his answer.  One second the room was empty apart from him and the Pandorica.  The next he was surrounded.  Dozens of the Doctor's greatest enemies teleported into the chamber in flashes of blue light.  Everywhere he looked there was a weapon pointed at him.

                "Well, hello everyone." the Doctor said with his usual bravado.

                He grinned defiantly at the White Dalek before him.   The Daleks stood side-by-side with Cybermen, Sontarans, and a whole host of other species.  The Doctor couldn’t believe it.  Logically they should all be trying to kill each other.

                "Where is the child?" demanded the Red Dalek.

                The Doctor's mind was working fast.  Everything was coming together, the words of Prisoner Zero, the warnings of Lincoln and Vincent.   Add that to Amy's favorite subject and book.  This was all a trap. 

                This was the Allegiance.

                "Where is the child?" the Dalek repeated, "Where is the Paradox Child?"

                The Doctor felt his stomach drop out.  The Time Cracks, the TARDIS exploding.  He finally understood.   'The most feared being in the universe': the one who would destroy it.  _Wendy_.   His ship wouldn't be able to maintain the paradox of her birth.  The resulting energy release would cause the TARDIS to explode and all of reality to shatter around it.  It was a miracle Amy had even survived to term.   

                "You're too late." the Doctor said quietly.

                "Lies!" cried the Sontaran General Staal stepping forward.  "We know the mother is your companion Amelia Pond."

                "How do you know?  How is any of this possible?  You lot working together, _The Allegiance_."   The Doctor felt the ground begin to shake.  Dust fell in little clouds from the ceiling.

                A Cyberman spoke in its grating robotic voice, "The cracks in the skin of the universe will delete all realities."

                "All worlds will be exterminated." said the Yellow Dalek.

                 A Judoon spoke, "The Allegiance was created to save the universe.  All evidence concurs the Time Cracks are the result of the Paradox Child."

                "And that's why you created the Pandorica." the Doctor concluded.

                "We devised a scenario the Doctor could not ignore based on the memory scans of your companion."

                The Doctor was hardly listening, focusing instead on the fissures opening in the walls and his own overwhelming despair.   It was too late, the universe was already dissolving.  After everything he'd done he'd still been unable to protect Amy.

                Before his eyes the Doctor saw everything as it should have happened.  As he'd always imagined it.  Wendy would sleep in the beautiful nursery the TARDIS built for her.   Amy would rock her in the little chair in the corner and every night he would tell her stories.   Stories of all the amazing and wonderful things in the universe.   And he and Amy would take her to all those places and to see all those things.  Wendy would grow up and they would have been happy.   They would have been a family.

                That was all gone now.

                "One last chance, Doctor." Said Staal, breaking into his thoughts.  "Where have you hidden the child?"

                "DON'T YOU GET IT!" the Doctor roared.  He was satisfied to see them flinch back.  "You're too _late_!  I'm too late! It's already happening!  It's the End of the World!"  He started laughing hysterically.   The Doctor knew he was breaking, but it didn’t matter anymore.   None of it did.

                The rest of the room went silent, except for the rumbling of the Earth.   The Doctor's burgeoning madness scared them.  They finally realized he wasn’t bluffing.   The cracks in the cavern walls continued to grow.   Suddenly part of the ceiling gave in crushing a group of Silurians.  People dodged out of the way of the debris.   Others teleported back to their ships in a panic.  The Doctor knew it was a wasted effort.  The cracks were everywhere in time and space now.   There was no escaping them.

                Brilliant white light began to glow in the fissures covering the walls, floor, and ceiling.  Tendrils snaked out wrapping around those nearest them.   Dissolving them from time.   Nothing could stop the light.  It was the end of all things.

                The Red Dalek rotated its eyestock back to face the Doctor.   "We shall at least be rid of you." It said.  The Doctor made no attempt to defend himself as it shot him in the chest. 

                He gasped, falling to the dirt floor.   Closing his eyes the Doctor thought of Amy and Wendy, of River, and Jack.  Of Donna, Martha, Mickey, Rose, Sarah Jane, of everyone.   He focused on them, feeling the regeneration energy building.  But there would be no Twelfth Doctor.  The light had already reached him.

                "I'm sorry."  Were the Doctor's last words.  

 

 

 

 


	17. The Begining in the End

                The doors slammed closed behind Jack.  

                "Doctor!" Amy and River cried.  

                Amy could hear him banging on the door trying to force it open.    The engines whirled to life pulling them into the Vortex and leaving the Doctor behind.   She started to panic.  She couldn't do this without him.  Jack ignored Amy's yelling running across the control room toward the medical bay.   Before he could reach the doorway it sealed.   All around the room metal doors slammed down and deadlocked.  

                "What's happening?" Jack cried.

                "The TARDIS is expelling rooms to conserve power!  She's expelling every room except this one." River yelled back.   The console began to spark and the engines groaned as if in pain.   "Something is overloading her circuits."

                Jack laid Amy on the floor and pulled off his coat to brace her head with.   It was far from the ideal location to deliver a baby.   Amy's face was chalk white and covered in sweat.   She had never been in more pain in her life or more scared.   She thought she was ready for this.  But that was in a hospital with medication and the Doctor to hold her hand.  Not _this_.

                Amy screamed hit with another contraction.   The lights of the console went out momentarily as one of the circuit boards exploded.    River dived out of the way of the sparks.   She was still trying to pilot the ship which refused to cooperate.   

                "Something's wrong!" Amy said desperately.    A pins-and-needles sensation spread across her body.   Every cell was charged with electricity.   Instinctively she knew her baby was in danger.   Her fingernails dug into Jack's arm.   "Something's wrong with her!"

                The TARDIS shook violently.   Jack curled his body around Amy to protect her from the embers shooting out of the wiring around the room.   River clung to the monitor to keep herself upright while she tried to figure out what was going on. 

                "It's the paradox!" she cried over the engines.  "The TARDIS can't contain it!"

                Jack and Amy looked at each other in horror, their noses practically touching. 

                "It's going to be ok." He whispered.

                Amy knew he was lying, she could see it in his eyes.   It wasn't going to be ok.   Her Wendy, her baby, the one thing she loved more than anything else in the world, wasn't going to be ok.   She would lose her and Amy's only consolation was that the explosion would take her too.  

                Every screen cracked in the pattern that had been haunting Amy since she was a little girl.   The lights flickered out.   Now the sparks and fire from the circuitry were the only illumination.   River began pulling out wires and reworking them in a desperate attempt to stop the inevitable.    In a blinding flash she was thrown backwards off the upper floor as another panel blew out.  

                River landed hard, her eyes open and vacant.   The electricity had stopped her heart.   Amy cried out unable to even crawl to her friend's side.   This wasn't supposed to happen.   The Doctor and River were going to be together in the future whether he wanted to admit it or not.   River and Jack were supposed to be friends; she was supposed to be her friend.  

                A dull roar sounded in Amy's ears.   It grew louder until she could hear nothing else.   The vibration shook Amy to her core.   The words of President Lincoln came back to her from all those months ago.

_'A great roaring filled my ears and I turned to see what could make such a sound.  Two people stood on the deck behind me and beyond them was a brilliant light. The first figure was a woman with hair like fire.  She was dressed in mourning, cradling a small child.   A man stood beside her like a sentinel, protecting her and her child.'_

                Finally Amy understood.  The warning hadn't been for them, it was about them.  They were the reason for the Time Cracks.  Her daughter caused the end of the universe.  

                White light snaked out of the fractures reaching for them.   They wrapped around River's body, dissolving her from time.   Jack held her tight but she couldn’t hear what he was saying.   She couldn’t even see him anymore through her tears.   Amy pressed a hand to her chest, fingers wrapping around the engagement ring she kept on chain under her shirt.  The diamond cut into her skin.

                Amy knew she was dying.   The Paradox Energy was killing her atom by atom, her body unable to withstand against it.   She spasmed with another contraction and the pain ripped through her again.  Amy focused on it because it was the only thing left.   As long as she felt the pain she was alive, her daughter was alive.  

                Amy closed her eyes and concentrated.    She focused on her daughter, on where her daughter came from.   Amy pressed against the barrier in her mind blocking her memories.    She slammed against it with everything she had left.  

                It broke.

                **"RORY!"**

                Memories came flooding back.   Rory with his sandy hair and timid personality.   The way he looked at her as if no one else existed.   How they played together as children.   The night he finally admitted he liked her.   The dinner where he proposed.   Rory defending her in Venice followed by the night they made Wendy. 

                And it wasn't just Rory.   Everything came back.   Her mother who sang her to sleep at night.  Her father and his inability to tell jokes.    Amy's family.   The family she'd forgotten.   The family she'd lost until the Doctor found her.    The Doctor!  Her best friend.   The ridiculous, bow tie wearing, alien she'd waited her whole life for.

                 Amy remembered everyone. 

                Everything went white.

***

                "Amy?" whispered a voice.

                Amy gasped opening her eyes.   It was so quiet, so calm.  Amy glanced around in shock.  She was in her living room at her Aunt Sharon's house.  No wait, her _parents_ house where her Aunt Sharon lived.   Amy was lying on the floor next to Jack, who still had his arms wrapped around her.   But that wasn't who had spoken.

                A young man knelt next to her looking bewildered.    Amy hesitantly reached up to touch his face, as if worried he would disappear.  

                "Rory?" she whispered.   "You're here?"

                He was solid.  He was real.  Amy cried out grabbing Rory and pulling him down to her in a passionate kiss.    The moment their lips met Amy felt complete again.   She'd found the part of her soul that was missing.   Rory, the man she loved.

                Jack coughed and they broke apart.  "I don't mean to break up this touching moment, but I have a few quick questions.  First off, who are you?  Where are we? And _WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED_?"

                "I think I can answer the first two." Said River, making them all jump.   She stood up from behind the sofa where she'd materialized rubbing her head.  "That would be the missing Rory Williams, who I'm only now remembering.   Someone better fill me in on that front.   And we're in the Pond household in Leadworth.   As for why or how, I haven't the foggiest."

                "Yeah.   Umm… I'm still confused too."  Rory said.   He was staring at Amy with a dazed expression.   "I was dying and then … whoa!"   He finally registered what he was seeing.   His eyes flicked back and forth between Amy's belly and her face.   Rory went bone white and started shaking his head.

                "You're…. how can you be…..what's going on?" he choked out.

                Amy tried to think of an answer, when she experienced another contraction.   She was still in labor!   It was a mark of how bad things were when someone could forget that. 

                "Rory we are having a baby.   Right now.  So don't ask stupid questions and do something." Amy said in a tone which brooked no argument. 

                The poor man's eyes went wide.   Rory looked like he was going into shock.   "We're having a baby?" he repeated weakly.   A dawning smile split his features, "We are having a baby."

                Amy smiled back through the pain.  "You've been gone awhile.  And if you ever put me through that again, I will bring you back just to kill you."  

                Whatever Rory was about to say was cut off by a very familiar sound.    The whine of the TARDIS engines filled the room.   It materialized in the corner and the Doctor stepped out.   He was grinning like an idiot.   Amy had never been happier to see him.

                "Hello Pond!"  He glanced around the room.  "And Rory!"

                The Doctor moved over to Amy.  "You saved the universe."

                "How?"

                "You remembered.   Amy you grew up with that crack in your wall, all that Time Energy running through your head at night.   It made you special.   It made you able to bring Rory back and thus end the paradox.   The Time Cracks never existed, you literally reset time."  The Doctor said enthusiastically.

                The Doctor grabbed Rory in a hug.   "Now come on nurse boy and help me get your wife to be into the TARDIS.   And since it’s a time machine you can still make it in time to walk her down the aisle this afternoon."

                Rory, the Doctor, and Jack carefully lifted Amy and carried her into the ship.   River jogged behind them.  The Doctor ran to the console skidding across the glass floor.   He hit a series of switches then ran back to the front door.  

                They were back in the hospital on Garneth, only this time they landed in the lobby.   It certainly worked in getting them attention.   A troop of doctors and nurses quickly got Amy into a wheelchair and moved her to the maternity ward.    Along with Rory who point blank refused to leave her side.   Once they realized he was a nurse they didn’t argue.  

                The Doctor, River, and Jack ended up in the maternity waiting room looking worn out.    The moment the nurses were gone River grabbed the Doctor in a kiss, and then hit him on the arm.  

                "Don't you dare do that to me again!" she hissed at the sputtering Time Lord.  

                The Doctor blinked in surprise.   He had to admit kissing her wasn't so terrible; in fact it was rather pleasant.   He slipped his hand into hers, "Promise."

                "Don't I get a kiss?" grinned Jack.

                "No."

                A few minutes later another nurse came into the room.   "She is asking for you sir." He said to the Doctor.

                "Try not to faint sweetie." River teased.

                He didn’t dignify that with a response, mostly because that was exactly what he was worried about.   The Doctor followed the nurse to Amy's room.   It was amazing how much the thought of childbirth scared him, but he'd promised Amy he would be there to hold her hand.

                Two hours later the cries of a tiny set of human lungs filled the maternity ward.   Wendy Pond-Williams was born in perfect health.   A few of the staff swore she was glowing slightly when she was born, but no one took them seriously.  

                Jack and River came in to meet the newest member of the TARDIS crew.    A tired but blissfully happy Amy cuddled her daughter.    Rory sat on the bed next to her grinning like a madman.   The Doctor could only imagine what he was thinking; this had all been sprung on him rather suddenly.   Explanations, such as there were, could come later.

                All of them cooed over the baby and admired her little splash of red curls.   It seemed she would be taking after her mother.    The Doctor thought Wendy was beautiful even if she was all red and wrinkly at the moment.

                "How are we supposed to explain this to our parents?" Rory asked suddenly looking down at his tiny daughter.  Everyone laughed because honestly they didn’t have a clue.  

***

                After several days recovering in the hospital and about two weeks in the TARDIS, Amy turned to Rory.

                "I think we should finally go to our wedding."

                He smiled at her over the crib where Wendy was sleeping.  "First I think we should stop in and have a long conversation with our folks.    I honestly can't wait to see my father's expression." 

                Amy giggled and kissed him lightly.  She knew everything was going to be alright.   She had her family, her daughter, her soon to be husband, and her best friend.   Wendy would grow up with their ridiculous, temporally messed up, perfect family.  And they would be happy.

                She was right.

 


	18. Epilogue

**5 Years or 2,869 Years Later**

                The Doctor threw open the TARDIS doors dramatically making the little girl next to him giggle. 

                "Space Florida!  I knew we would get here eventually." he said. 

                "Emphasis on eventually." said his wife.     It had taken them six stops.   One of which resulted in Wendy being proclaimed the new goddess of the moon Alturna.  The Doctor turned to glare at River who smirked.

                "It just looks like regular Florida." said Rory stepping outside to inspect the palm tree lined beach. 

                "It has automated sand." the Doctor said pointing at the very normal looking sand.   "And Disney Universe, which is way cooler than Disney World!"   He looked at his goddaughter who would usually backed him up.   But the four year old was too distracted by the ocean to help him out. 

                "Mama let's look for seashells." Wendy cried grabbing Amy's hand and running towards the water.

                "Wait for me!" the Doctor yelled.

                River and Rory exchanged knowing glances watching their spouses chasing the young girl across the sand.    It didn't take long until they were all involved.   Wendy found the most shells, but that was mostly due to the fact that she and her father teamed up against everyone else.   

                Later Amy, River, and Wendy decided to make a sandcastle while Rory attempted to stop the Doctor from killing himself lighting a bonfire.    He survived the ensuing explosion, but lost most of his eyebrows.

                "Remind me why I married you exactly?" River said in exasperation.

                "You find my quirky personality endearing."

                "Is that it?"  She rolled her eyes, absently twisting the Gallifreyan style wedding band on her finger.  

                "And here I thought it was because she lost her mind." Amy called from behind the sandcastle. 

                "Just for that I'm not taking you to the Ice Kingdom of New Nepal." 

                "We probably wouldn’t make it there anyway." muttered Rory making everyone laugh. 

                The Doctor's comeback was cut off my Wendy.   She flung herself into his arms knocking him over backwards.    He looked up at the little red-head, who looked so much like Amy when they first met.  

                "You said you would teach me how to ice skate."  Wendy reminded him reproachfully. 

                The Doctor chuckled; she even glared like her mother.   Though, she had inherited Rory's blue eyes.    "Don't worry we are still going.   After all you agreed to help me beat your parents in a snowball fight.   Not going to miss that opportunity am I?"  he whispered.

                "You two plotting to take over the universe?" Amy asked coming over to sit next to them. 

                Wendy nodded seriously then gave the Doctor a very obvious conspiratorial wink.   Amy smiled, pretending not to notice.  

                "So tomorrow Disney Universe, yeah?"

                Wendy and the Doctor both nodded enthusiastically.   Amy laughed at their matching excited expressions. 

                Things were the same as always. 


End file.
